The Predator Speaks: ‘Prey’ Alien Is a 6-Foot-8 Athlete Who Says ‘A Lot of Nuance Goes Into Playing a Monster’
Dan Trachtenberg’s “Predator” prequel “Prey” has dominated social media buzz since debuting Aug. 5 on Hulu, and the horror-action film has since become the streamer’s biggest original film or TV launch in history. The movie has made instant stars out of Amber Midthunder and Dakota Beavers. But what about Dane DiLiegro? If you don’t know his name, then you certainly know his work in “Prey” considering he’s the man underneath all that Predator makeup and prosthetics.
“I was told to bring a balletic svelte-ness to this creature,” DiLiegro recently told The New York Times about becoming the Predator. “The No. 1 word the director used was ‘feral.’”
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DiLiegro stands 6 feet 8½ inches tall and before playing creatures in Hollywood he was a basketball player, first at the University of New Hampshire and then for eight years professionally in Europe. His road to the movies started when he answered an ad in his Boston hometown to be an extra in a movie.
“I ended up just standing around the set all day, talking to the stunt coordinator,” DiLiegro said, adding that it was the stunt coordinator who first told him, “Dude, you need to be in monster movies.”
DiLiegro’s first gig was starring in a Korean series for Netflix titled “Sweet Home,” where he played “a mutated human the size of a door who would smash through walls and chase people and crush them.”
“I had to wear this foam latex suit that weighed 80 pounds,” DiLiegro said. “My feet were four inches off the floor and my toes stuck out four inches. I weighed 320 pounds with that suit, and foam latex is a sponge, so the weight would increase as the day went by. I had never acted before. Ok, in summer camp I think I did drama but it was, like, an elective.”
DiLiegro would go on to play a creature in “American Horror Story” and then take on the role of the Predator in “Prey.” He currently lives in West Hollywood and told The Times he is studying the work of creature master Doug Jones, best known for playing monsters in Guillermo del Toro projects such as “Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
“People don’t realize there’s a lot of nuance that goes into playing a monster,” DiLiegro said. “With each movement, your body is telling a story. Someday, I hope to play a human, too.”
“Prey” is now streaming on Hulu.
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