Predator: Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Hollywood Debut
Makeup FX legend Steve Johnson (Ghostbusters, Species, Blade 2) recently sat down with us for our first episode of THE MONSTER SHOW. With his usual mix of candor and comedy, Steve covered the highs and lows of his award-winning career, including his nightmare stint as Boss Films' Creature FX supervisor on the first ill-fated Predator suit, worn by Belgian martial artist and aspiring action star, Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Enjoy the video excerpt below and check out the full interview HERE.
Matt Winston
Jump to Section
- The Story Behind the “Original” Predator
- How JCVD Being Cast as Predator Led to a Redesign of the Suit
The Story Behind the “Original” Predator
Matt: Let's talk about Predator.
Steve: Oh my God, are we really going to do this?
Matt: Of course, it's one of the most iconic characters in the world. Let's talk about that job ...
Steve: Lead me, help me.
Matt: Let's start simple.
Steve: Let's start easy.
Matt: You're pitched this creature. We've got to pull this thing off. What are we going to do?
Steve: We have this meeting and we're sitting around a board table and it's the usual suspects. It's all of the executives. It's Joel Silver, the producer; it's John McTiernan, the director. With great pomp and ceremony, McTiernan comes in and slams down a bunch of designs that have already been done by a production designer, and they were awful.
(Mechanical sketches for the Boss Films Predator.)
(Predator design by Luc Mayrand for Robert Short Productions between Boss Films and Stan Winston's involvement.)
Steve: It was ahead of its time, let's put it that way. But the head did suck. They said, "Here's what we want you to make." What they needed was a character with backward-bent reptilian legs, extended arms, and a head that was out here, and they wanted to shoot on the muddy slopes of Mexico in the real jungles. It was virtually physically impossible to do. I told them it wouldn't work.
(Design maquette for the "Original" Predator.)
Steve: They wanted to just tell the guy to hop around like a frog and it was Jean-Claude Van Damme who had no idea what he was getting into. He was just off the boat from Brussels. He thought he was going to show his martial arts abilities to the world.
(Belgian martial artist Van Damme hoped playing Predator would make him a star.)
Steve: So Jean-Claude comes in for his fittings. Remember the cloaking device? Beautiful effect in its day... we made a red version [of the suit] because red is the opposite of green on the color wheel. It had been shot against green in the jungle.
(Jean-Claude Van Damme goes through the life-casting process at Boss Films.)
Steve: Jean-Claude comes in and we're fitting him in this red suit and just assuming, like the slaves that we are, that the higher-ups have told him exactly what's going on. But he thought this was actually the real look of the monster in the movie and he was, "I hate this. I hate this. I hate it. I look like a superhero." He was so angry.
(Director John McTiernan tries on the red fabric-covered "Invisibility Suit.")
Steve: I'm like, "Jean-Claude, did no one tell you? It's a cloaking device. You're invisible for half of the picture. This is not you." Which made him even angrier because he thought he could do his martial arts, he could fight Arnold Schwarzenegger. Impossible. Absolutely Impossible.
(Jean-Claude Van Damme performs in the red "Invisibility Cloak" suit.)
Steve: He didn't realize that he was just kind of a stuntman, right? We get him out there for the first shot and he's just seething.
(Jean-Claude Van Damme as the "original" Predator on location in the Mexican jungle.)
Steve: We got him in at lunch and you could see his eyes through the rubber muscles of the neck and he's like, "I hate this head. I hate it. I hate it. Hate it."
(Jean-Claude Van Damme would never wear a monster suit after his experience as the "original" Predator.)
(Carl Weathers (with prosthetic arm stump) with Jean-Claude Van Damme (wearing the "Original" Predator arm).)
(Carl Weathers on the set with Jean-Claude Van Damme inside the original creature suit. Credit: Monster Legacy.)
How JCVD Being Cast as Predator Led to a Redesign of the Suit
Legendary stuntman, Peter Kent who was Arnold Schwarzenegger's stunt double in many movies, told us his own story about Jean-Claude Van Damme and the "original" Predator:
"JCVD didn’t last long on this shoot. He was told about the rigors of the suit and the heat and the fact that there was a 'rudimentary cooling system' in it, but it proved too much. So did his constant complaining. After about two weeks, producer Joel silver came to set and said, 'there’s a plane ticket on your hotel bed. Get out of here.' As that version of the creature wasn’t really working anyway, we shut down for about a month and let them redesign then started up again."
(Arnold Schwarzenegger and his stunt doubles: Sven-Ole Thorsen (left) & Peter Kent (right) on the set of Predator.)
FULL INTERVIEW - "The Monster Show" with Steve Johnson
Courses with the Creators of Predator
- Make a Monster - Plastic Bag Technology with Steve Johnson
- Special Effects Sequence Design with Shane Mahan
- Hybrid Characters: Blending Practical & Digital FX with John Rosengrant
- Production Design: The Process Of Creating A World For Film with Eddie Yang and Jabbar Raisani
- The Business Of Making Monsters - Part 1 with Shannon Shea
- Garage Monsters - How To Make Creature FX On A Budget with Shannon Shea
- How To Paint A Monster Mask with Steve Wang
- Zombie Makeup: 3D Prosthetic Transfer Application with Howard Berger
- Animation For Animatronics: Intro To Pololu, Maya & AnimServo Software with Craig Caton-Largent
- How To Build An Animatronic Head - Creating The Mechanical Underskull with Craig Caton-Largent
To create your own Predator, check out these courses:
- Sculpture Techniques - How To Sculpt Dynamic Characters (Alien vs. Predator) with Simon Lee
- Metallic Painting Techniques - Real Metal Effects (Predator Mask Painting Techniques) with Jamie Grove