It’s not every day you can sit down and talk to all the stars of a big hollywood movie in one interview, but not every movie Predator: Badlands. The latest film in the Sci-Fi franchise that started in 1987 flips on the tried-and-true formula, not only by making the attacker itself but also by not calling a single human character in the entire film. In fact, in terms, there are only two main things that appear on the screen: Elle FANINGNE and Dimitrius Schuster-KoloamaTanga.
Enemy, you know. Dakota FANINGN’s younger sister has been in amazing movie after amazing movie for over 20 years. Super 8, Maleficent, Neon Demon, Case Belue Stude Benjamin Button-He was everywhere. And, in Predator: BadlandsSkating doubles as Thia and Tessa, two Weyland-Yutani synthetics sent to the Genet genna of the Evil Planet to do some shady-yutani shit.
Traditionally, koloamatangi, on the other hand, is something new that you may not even notice after watching Predator: Badlands. That’s because the New Zealand-born Debet actor, making his American debut in the film, plays Dek, the main character you won’t see. Because he is an attacker. But all the emotion and subtlety in the performance is all up to him, as he made the film using CGI facial capture.
But that’s when, at the beginning of this week, IO9 ended up on the other side of all the big stars of the best film from the director of Dan TrachtenberBerg – how the two got the role, and who from the franchise they like to appear with them next.
This discussion is edited for length and clarity.
Germain Lussier, iO9: Joining the franchise should be a big deal for the actor. You have so much more to think about than just a movie. It’s, “Are we going to be next to each other? Are we going to be toys? My match,” things like that. Did that play any of you as you decided to do this role?
Elle fanning: Yes, you think about those things. But, for me, I always look to the Director. I look at the text. Also, why did they make another one? Like, what’s the reason behind this? And reading this text, you completely understand that reason. Because Dan Trachtenerg completely opens the franchise up and squeezes it in this bold new direction. It’s a big throw. I love a challenge. I like to surprise the audience. And I feel like that’s exactly what needs to be done. It is because of the time that we put the attacker in the role of the protagonist and the kind of study about his history. Also, I’ve always wanted to be an action figure. I’m like, I love that.
IO9: It’s one of the few things you haven’t done, right?
TOUNTION: Directly.
IO9: There are many beautiful creatures in this. One of my favorite things is finding out what might be next. Do you have a favorite story of a creature that was fun to work on set, be it functional or digital, or something like that, after you saw it that way?
Dimitrius schuster-koloamatangi: Wow. I think my favorite creature is the android shared on my back.
IO9: [Laughs] OK, the current company is not included.
TOUNTION: I mean I love you bud. Along with the list, there was a person, Ravi [Narayan]who was removed from view. And there was a cardboard cutout of the bud to see what it would look like. I mean, a kalisk? I had no idea a kalisk would look like that.
Schuster-koloamatangi: Yes.
TOUNTION: Dan was helping to show us the renderings of the creatures and things, so we knew what we were looking at. And we weren’t in the studio. We have been to these places in New Zealand. So that helped. Everything was a visible kindness. But creatures, yes, were created [digitally]. Kalisk I was like, “Whoa.” I only saw it in IMAX the other day, and that was horrible.
Schuster-koloamatangi: Yes, the scale of it was crazy to see, like it was completely organized. They tell you, “Look at this, it’s eeline all the way up there,” and you’re just kind of in your place, trying to figure out how your character feels. And once you see it, it’s like, “Damn. That’s a lot.”
IO9: Dimitrius, I read in the release notes that you have to complete an obstacle course to get this movie. Can you tell me about something from movie history where someone has to complete an obstacle course to get there.
Schuster-koloamatangi: Yeah, man. I felt like I was a kid again, running around the playground. I remember going in – because they told us to go back, I said, “Oh, yeah, so he’s going to call you [an] obstacle course. They just say, they say, “the course to go.”
TOUNTION: I keep thinking, I love, Clear it, The wife-style. Like, I keep thinking about hitting balls or something, dressed as a striker.
IO9: That’s exactly what I was thinking.
TOUNTION: It was more serious than that, but that’s what I keep thinking.
Schuster-koloamatangi: I don’t know if it could be worse than that. It was very similar. But, yeah, I was walking, and I was like, “oh, this is like an important obstacle course that we have to do.” And I’m quite competitive, so I was trying to force myself not to rush and try to finish first. I was like, “man, I’m going to kill you with this. Like, I’m going to be real quick.” But then, I had to keep cutting back and remember that it was about performance. We try to bring the character to life, play it on camera, and without saying anything. But, yeah, if the camera wasn’t there, I’d be pushing people out of the way, trying to finish that fast, man.
IO9: ELLE, you’ve worked with so many amazing directors, and you just mentioned Dan, who is very early in his career. What do you think makes Dan special compared to other directors you’ve worked with? What makes him stand out?
TOUNTION: Gosh, Dan is so special. You have such a clear mind and you are right, you are a lover of this country. And I think that brings so much love to this work and the films he makes. And he can balance these epic countries, a complete structure on earth, a new planet that we have never seen, and the action is just this idea. But he has a lot of heart as a person. He is very kind and cares about the emotional scenes and the dialogue scenes that we have. And so when you marry those two things together, you make something special. I mean, I worked with JJ Abrams. I know they are friends, but you remind me of JJ.
IO9: Now that you both played Yautja and he was friends with Yautja, does that repeat the other movies? You can watch any of them and be like, “I know what happened to him?” or “I wonder why they do that?”
Schuster-koloamatangi: Yup.
TOUNTION: We’ve been talking about that. We’re like, “We can go back and watch them. I think I’ll probably have a soft spot for some of the attackers in all the other movies.”
Schuster-koloamatangi: Yes, members of my family who were killed regularly.
TOUNTION: Yes, they were always killed. They always say how bad they are, but they always lose.
Schuster-koloamatangi: They were always dying.
[All laugh]
IO9: Dimitrius, I know you went through old movies and stuff before doing this. Can you see something in you? Or anything that was like, “oh, that’s something I want to include and remember when we shoot this”?
Schuster-koloamatangi: I think the main thing I wanted to do was make sure I brought my performance to Yautja. You know, when you’re reviving all the old movies, you know when they’re close. You cannot see them; They don’t say much, but you feel their presence, and you get worried. You feel almost afraid, and they don’t even come in. So I wanted to emulate that kind of feeling. When he’s on screen, you feel it. Like, “Okay, there’s a deer.” So that was a lot of energy that I was trying to bring to every Iconic movie. He had an aura sense. You are an attacker. You are a Yautja. You are cruel. But it was fun to mix that with his vulnerability and the obstacles he was forced to go through in the film.
IO9: and obstacle courses. One last thing, another movie Dan was doing at this time, Killer of Killersit means that many people from other movies are still around. So, do you have a character from previous movies still alive or not that you would like to see your character interact with?
Schuster-koloamatangi: Oh, Hell Yeah, Arnold.
TOUNTION: Yes, duh.
Schuster-koloamatangi: Yes, he is a star.
TOUNTION: Although I love love An edible deer and, therefore I would like him to return; That would be cool.
Schuster-koloamatangi: Naru?
TOUNTION: Yes.
Schuster-koloamatangi: Of course, that would be sick.
TOUNTION: You are at the beginning Killer of Killers in the end.
IO9: Both of them.
TOUNTION: [Mr. Burns hands] Hmmmm.
Predator: Badlands in theaters Friday.
Looking for more IO9 news? Check out when you can expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe in film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
