The Badlands star had to perform his scenes essentially blind

Since 1987, “Predator” movie franchise. It was synonymous with heat vision shots from the perspective of members of the titular alien race, the Yautja, scanning their surroundings until three terrifying little dots find their target. It’s too bad the “Predator: Badlands” star didn’t have access to any of that awesome heat vision during filming. Instead, it turns out that the human playing the movie’s fanged hero couldn’t see anything behind those mandibles.

In an interview with Sound effects“Badlands” actor Demetrius Schuster-Kolamatangi — who plays Yautja warrior Dek in the film — revealed that taking on the role of one of the coolest hunters in the galaxy has its downsides. The first issue was the Yautja suit, which was so strenuous to wear that he believes he “probably lost about 15 kilograms” during filming. “You’re constantly sweating all the time, but along with the costume I had to wear contact lenses, Predator lenses, which blurred my vision,” he explained. This means that the actor’s scenes must be carefully blocked beforehand. That way, when the cameras started rolling, he wasn’t completely (and literally) blind.

“So, before we shot, we would block first without the contacts, just so I could go through them and know where I needed to be,” he continued. From there, the actor was on his own He made the film’s Yautja design work (Joining the ranks of other ugly space moms – well, you know). “Once the communications started, it was just, ‘Try to do it as best you can, like we trained, and just try to find your mark to achieve your goals,’” he recalls.

It is nothing new for a predator to act blindly. In fact, it is often the single chink in these alien monsters’ armor that their intended prey can use to their advantage. In the case of Kolomatangi, he used his own lemons to make lemonade, albeit in a somewhat unconventional way. “I used all of these obstacles as a way to become my character a little bit more. My character in the movie has some flaws of his own,” the actor quipped, alluding to the ways young Dick was able to forge ahead alone on one of the deadliest planets in the universe. “So using those certain things helped me ground the character with a little bit of authenticity and make it real.”

More importantly, Koloamatangi acknowledged that he was following in the footsteps of plenty of other stars who have donned those ridiculously adorable faces as Predators in the past: “But what helped me was knowing that everyone who’s played a Predator has been through something like that. Accepting the role that this character plays, you know what comes with it. So, accepting it early and then continuing with it really helped me.”

While the Kolomatangi may join a deadly breed, “Predator: Badlands” will change things up By making the primary predator the protagonist this time. Not only that, but Dick is also accompanied in the film by Thea (Elle Fanning), a robot who is a little worse for wear. You can find out how they each handle the hunt when “Predator: Badlands” hits theaters on November 7, 2025.