The Predator Cast: Then And Now

It has been almost 20 years since Arnie and friends had an extra-terrestrial rumble in the jungle in ‘Predator’. What has become of the cast since the murders in Val Verde?

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Dutch

He’s led a quiet life, has Arnie. Apart from the billion dollar movie career and stint as Governor in charge of the world’s 8th biggest economy, that is. Schwarzenegger made classic after classic in the 90s ('Total Recall’! 'Terminator 2’! 'True Lies!’), then just as his star began to fade, he was elected Governator of California in 2003, a role which he filled for eight long years. Since returning to Hollywood he’s yet to return to his best - he is 68 years old, after all - but slower movies like 'Maggie’ and 'The Last Stand’ did show him in a new light. Next up are reprisals in 'The Legend Of Conan’ (Yay!) and 'Twins’ sequel 'Triplets’ (Boo!), but don’t bank on another 'Terminator’ movie any time soon after the lukewarm reception received by 'Terminator Genisys’.

Carl Weathers - Dillon

Carl Weathers, thank the Lord, is still with us. Pushing too many pencils at the CIA gave him biceps to die for, but Weathers was soon on the wane. Star vehicles 'Action Jackson’ and 'Hurricane Smith’ didn’t take off, meaning Carl made his living from direct-to-video classics like 'Sheriff Tom Vs The Zombies’ and 'Assault On Death Mountain’. Playing himself in 'Arrested Development’ gave him a chance to flex his comedic muscles, while he voiced his namesake, Combat Carl, in 2013 Pixar short 'Toy Story Of Terror’. He won’t appear in forthcoming Rocky spin-off 'Creed’ on account of his character being dead.

Jesse Ventura - Blaine

Known as 'The Body’, Ventura was larger than life off screen just as he was on screen. Roles in 'The Running Man’ and xxx followed 'Predator’, a film in which he had a great rivalry with Arnie - the pair had a running contest to see who had the biggest biceps, which Schwarzenegger won after bribing Ventura’s costume fitter. Like Arnie, Ventura moved into politics and was elected Governor of Minnesota between 1993-2003. He hit headlines recently when Chris Kyle, subject of the Clint Eastwood biopic 'American Sniper’, claimed he’d punched Ventura for making derogatory remarks about the military; Ventura claims he’d never even met him. His biopic was called 'Ain’t Got Time To Bleed’, which is amazing.

Bill Duke - Mac

“I'mma have me some fun,” muttered Duke’s character Mac, and post-'Predator’ that’s exactly what he did: 'Bird On A Wire’ and 'Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit’ were just two roles that showcased his versatility. He’s since played cops, crooks, presidents and kings, most recently in 'Macbett: The Black Macbeth’ (which loses points for not being called 'Blackbeth’). His most recent high profile parts were in Keanu Reeves crime drama 'Henry’s Crime’ and as Trask in 'X-Men: The Last Stand’, a role which was later played by Peter Dinklage, who is literally the opposite human of Bill Duke.

Shane Black - Hawkins

Hawkins was only a character in 'Predator’ because Shane Black was needed on set to do constant rewrites, so it made sense to write him into the movie. He wasn’t much of an actor by his own admission - although he does appear in 2015 Sean Bean boxing drama 'Any Day’ - so stuck with the screenwriting. Good choice. By the nineties, after scripts like 'The Last Boy Scout’ and 'The Long Kiss Goodnight’, Black was the highest-paid and most in demand writer in Hollywood. An inexplicable nine year absence was followed by a triumphant return in the form of 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’, which was then followed by billion-dollar blockbuster 'Iron Man 3’. Black is rumoured to be attached to yet another 'Predator’ reboot. Hawkins to return?

Elpidia Carrillo - Anna

The only female character in the original 'Predator’ was actually the only character to return for 1990’s sequel 'Predator 2’; Elpidia Carrillo shot a scene in the police station where survivor Anna recalled the events of the first movie, but it was deleted. Carrillo was cut from indie cloth pre-'Predator’ (she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Oliver Stone’s 'Salvador’) and she returned to independent film post-'Predator’, in the US and her native Mexico, where she starred in Guillermo del Toro’s award-winning show 'Un Embrujo’. Carrillo’s career was put on hold while she had children, but she returned to TV recently with a recurring role in ABC’s enjoyably trashy country music drama 'Nashville’.

Sonny Landham - Billy

Before he played hunter Billy in 'Predator’, Sonny Landham made his living in adult movies, which made his attempted career trajectory from porn star to politician that little bit harder. When the action roles dried up (he too starred in 'Action Jackson’), Cherokee descendant Landham decided that anything Arnie could do, he could do too, and following the trail blazed by Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura, Sonny ran for office. It did not go well. In 2003, he failed to land the Republican nomination for Governor of Kentucky; in 2004, his announcement of candidacy for State Senate District of Kentucky came to nothing; in 2008, undeterred by his utter lack of political success, Landham announced he was running for a seat on the US Senate, then on the same day called for genocide against Arabs, calling them “ragheads” on a radio phone-in. Landham is currently studying at Eastern Kentucky University - no doubt a glittering degree in Political Science awaits.

Richard Chaves - Poncho

Another Native American descendant, Chaves came from a less colourful background than fellow Cherokee Sonny Landham: he wrote critically-acclaimed Vietnam War stage show 'Tracers’. Post-Poncho, Chaves starred in Michael Mann’s 'L.A. Takedown’ - the director’s own pre-cursor to 'Heat’ - as well as a few duff straight to video movies, and a lead role in the 1988 TV adaptation of 'War Of The Worlds’. In the late 90s, Chaves attracted the attention of a stalker and under advisement cancelled all future plans to attend conventions, film premieres and public events. Now 64, Chaves understandably stays out of the limelight but continues to contribute to stage and screen.

Kevin Peter Hall - Predator

Towering over his castmates at 7 feet 2 inches tall, Hall was arguably the most intimidating member of the 'Predator’ cast, although he was known off screen as a gentle giant. The former basketball star brough terrifying physicality to the role of the Predator in the first movie and reprised the role for the 1990 sequel. Hall played the role of Sasquatch Harry in 'Harry And The Hendersons’ and after he found fame as Predator he returned for the TV series, but tragically in 1991 Kevin Peter Hall was taken ill after a HIV-infected blood transfusion, and he died from AIDS-related pneumonia at the young age of 35. He was posthumously inducted into the Penn Hills Hall of Fame in 2009.

Jean-Claude Van Damme - Predator (briefly)

Wham! Bam! Thanks but no thanks, Van Damme! Before he was known as the Muscles from Brussels, he was just plain old struggling actor Jean-Claude, who thought he’d found himself a role as a monster in a sci-fi movie called 'Hunter’. Van Damme did indeed play the Predator for the first couple of days of shooting, but the suit at that time was basically a bright red uncomfortable Lycra number, about which JCVD complained endlessly due to the intense jungle heat. After a few days of shooting, Van Damme was replaced with Kevin Peter Hall and producers decided that his contribution did not warrant his name appearing in the film’s credits. He went on to make about nine movies where he plays twin martial artists who do the splits a lot.

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Image credits: Rex Features/Getty Images/20th Century Fox