Predator star reveals why Jean-Claude Van Damme was fired from the film

Predator actor Bill Duke verifies why action star Jean-Claude Van Damme never worked out as the movie’s first monster.

A little-known fact of cinema history that is increasingly exposed in the age of the Internet is that John McTiernan’s Predator almost took a different turn in casting and creature design than what we got from Stan Winston. At first, “The Muscles From Brussels” himself, Jean-Claude Van Damme, was supposed to be the creature before he was fired midway through production.

There have been a few stories as to why but in the last few weeks one of the film’s principal actors, Bill Duke, was a guest on The Murder Master Music Show and he explained it had to do with McTiernan’s irritation at Van Damme over an unavoidable case of dehydration while filming in the jungles of Central America — and the passing out that comes with it.

Smaller creatures

“The Predator that you saw was not the original predator did you know that? “ Duke began, dishing on a revelation offered by behind-the-scenes images that leaked online. “The original Predator was a much smaller creature and they were gonna put the special effects on his body in post-production.”

Continuing, Duke disclosed the original was supposed to fly atop the trees to help stay out of sight. “He had a stealth suit on and they put him in wires and he flew in the trees with the wires on his back looking like he was flying,” he said.

He said, she said

But the problem of dehydration in a thickly layered costume soon reared its ugly alien head and put a kibosh to these plans. “He had passed out twice from dehydration,” Duke added that the producer told him “If you pass out again I’m gonna fire you!” and that two weeks later “the guy passes out and the producer goes over and fires him”. He then confirmed that person was indeed Jean Claude Van Damme.

McTiernan has another version of the story, stating JCVD didn’t like the suit, didn’t understand what the effects were for, was confused about the tone of his movie, and didn’t work well with Arnold Schwarzenegger either.

Van Damme’s account is a little different as he has testified the costume was hard to maneuver in and didn’t come with a great deal of visibility for the wearer. Naturally, it was easy to overheat inside as Bill Duke discussed and Van Damme also was cautious about the dangerous stunts he had to do.

Claims he was trying to sabotage his chances are frequently debated but he had Bloodsport to fall back on in any case, so it worked out for him and his career just as much as it did the first Predator movie at the time.

The Predator series to date

Van Damme was replaced by actor/stuntman Kevin Peter Hall who played the creature (which today is dubbed the Yautja) as well as a helicopter pilot in the film. Hall had one more go as the monster in Predator 2 before a tragic turn of events led to him being infected with AIDS through a blood transfusion. Disease complications and pneumonia eventually took his life at 36.

The Predator series boasts several sequels, reboots, and crossovers in cinema as well as comic books, but nothing has ever rivaled the first installment in 1987. 2018’s The Predator, directed by one of the original cast members in Shane Black, was met with mixed reactions and failed to make enough money to justify a sequel.

That isn’t stopping the new owners of the property, Disney, from trying with Dan Trachtenberg’s Skulls due out in the coming year, despite an ongoing legal battle over the rights.

In recent years, Bill Duke became a familiar face to fans of Black Lightning and his time as part of the show can be streamed on Netflix.

Did you find that interesting? Are you familiar with this Hollywood lore or a fan of Predator? Tell us in the comments and feel free to add your excitement level for the upcoming Skulls.