- - “Predator” Star Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi Created a Made-Up Language and Conquered an Obstacle Course to Win Role

Tommy McArdleNovember 14, 2025 at 1:39 AM

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Frazer Harrison/WireImage; 20th Century Studios

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi on Nov. 3, 2025; Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi in Predator: Badlands -

Predator: Badlands star Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi revealed in a new interview that he had to make up his own alien language and complete an obstacle course during his auditions for the movie

Director Dan Trachtenberg said in an interview that Schuster-Koloamatangi brought "a special physicality" to the film as its latest Predator character, Dex

Predator: Badlands is in theaters now

Fans of the Predator movies have one name on their minds after Predator: Badlands' release: Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi.

Schuster-Koloamatangi, the New Zealand-born and raised actor who plays the lead role in the Predator sequel that dominated the box office upon its Nov. 7 release, recently told Men's Health that his audition process for the role was secretive and physically demanding.

"When I first got the audition for Predator, I didn't know what it was for. I didn't know what franchise it was for or what character I was playing," he told the outlet. "It literally just said that I was playing 'a creature' and to do one take in English, and one take in my own, made-up language. At the callback, I had to do an obstacle course. I had never done anything like it—and at that point I still wasn’t sure what the franchise was."

Schuster-Koloamatangi had only a handful of acting credits before playing Dek, a young Yautja (Predator) warrior sent on a desperate hunt on a dangerous planet in the new movie.

The actor, who is of Samoan and Tongan heritage, told Men's Health he improvised a language for his audition by combining Samoan and Tongan dialects. As director Dan Trachtenberg told the outlet, he and a group of stunt performers put together an "American Ninja Warrior-style" obstacle course, which Schuster-Koloamatangi completed with ease.

Courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi in Predator: Badlands

"The way Dimitrius navigated that course was insane," the director recalled. "The swashbuckle he brought to all the sliding, jumping, leaping, and weapon work was even cooler than the stuntmen. Dimitrius had a special physicality."

Predator: Badlands sees Schuster-Koloamatangi costar with Elle Fanning, who plays a "synthetic" named Thia, nodding to Predator's previous crash courses with the Alien franchise. Fanning, 27, spends much of the movie's runtime strapped to Schuster-Koloamatangi's back due to injuries her character sustains. "I had never been in a situation where you had to be in such close proximity to your co-star for such long periods of time — and when I say 'close proximity,' I mean that we were physically touching the whole time," he told Men's Health of working with Fanning.

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20th Century Fox/ Alamy

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi in Predator: Badlands (2025)

"It fostered a lot of trust between us, which I feel helped not only with our chemistry but also helped us be able to support each other," Schuster-Koloamatangi added. "I felt really supported and — I'm only speaking on this because Elle herself has told me this — she felt really supported too."

It's unclear where the Predator franchise may go next after Badlands rocketed to success. Trachtenberg hinted at further potential crossovers with the Alien movies while speaking with Deadline recently, and producer Ben Rosenblatt told the outlet that "the holy grail of Predator movies would" involve Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his role from the original 1987 movie.

Predator: Badlands is in theaters now.

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