‘Predator: Badlands’ Star Elle Fanning Explains How Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi Wore Her Like a Backpack

Predator: Badlands stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi cut right to the chase.

The two actors weren’t put through extensive chemistry readings and screen tests, nor did they get to know each other ahead of shooting. Instead, they met in passing at a stunt rehearsal, and the next thing they knew, they were strapped to each other in the middle of Dan Trachtenberg’s remote New Zealand set. What resulted is now one of the most unique dynamic duos in recent memory.

Schuster-Koloamatangi, who’s a native New Zealander, plays Dek, the franchise’s first Yautja protagonist, and as the runt of his Predator clan, he’s been completely written off by his father. Refusing to accept this fate, Dek heads off on his first hunt without the blessing of his clan, and he soon crash lands on Genna, the universe’s most dangerous planet. That’s where he crosses paths with Fanning’s Weyland-Yutani synthetic named Thia.

The rub is that the stranded yet helpful synth is heavily damaged, and so Dek has to strap her legless body to his back as they trek through the deadly wilderness. This meant that Schuster-Koloamatangi also had to wear Fanning like a backpack for much of the shoot. The latter often found herself in the shape of an L, and various combinations of wires, rigs and harnesses elevated her blue-covered legs so that they could be digitally removed in post-production.

“We also had this wheelbarrow situation. This rig would hook up to Dimitrius’ waist, and then he would pull me up these hills while I would be sitting on these two wheels. That was a whole interesting contraption,” Fanning tells The Hollywood Reporter in support of Predator: BadlandsNov. 7 theatrical release.

Between the ending of June’s animated feature Predator: Killer of Killers and Predator: BadlandsTrachtenberg has left himself with no shortage of future story possibilities. Fanning and Schuster-Koloamatangi don’t know the particulars of his plan yet, but they do know he has a grand design for this universe he’s been shepherding since 2022’s Prey.

“There’s definitely potential for lots of things, and I would follow Dan anywhere,” Fanning says, with Schuster-Koloamatangi adding, “He has something cooking. That man is a genius.”

Below, during a recent conversation with THRSchuster-Koloamatangi also discusses the startling feeling he had opposite Fanning’s second synth character, Tessa.

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(LR) Thia (Elle Fanning) and Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) in Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands 20th Century Studios

Two-handers like Predator: Badlands usually require chem reads, but in the case of a verbose synthetic and a taciturn Yautja, was it still necessary?

ELLE FANNING We did not [do a chem read].

DIMITRIUS SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI Yeah, we didn’t.

FANNING You get close pretty quickly when you’re put into that situation. But Dimitrius basically did a whole America Ninja Warrior course to train for the audition and everything else.

SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI That was fun. But there was no formal chemistry reading. They just strapped us up together [on set].

FANNING Dan [Trachtenberg] has such amazing instincts. He’s such a brilliant visionary, and he really created this whole concept and idea. It is a total big swing, but I trusted him so fully. He just had a gut feeling that we would work really well together, and he was completely right. Thank God, I had Dimitrius.

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Elle Fanning attend the Predator: Badlands UK Special Screening at BFI IMAX Waterloo on Oct. 27 in London, England. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Whenever Dek wore Thia like a JanSport backpack, I would wonder what your real-life height differential is, and based on carpet photos, I believe you’re both around the same height. So how uncomfortable was your bodily arrangement on set?

FANNING & SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI (Laugh.)

FANNING That is true. They created all these new wire rigs that had never been done before. We were filming on location in New Zealand in these real landscapes, so wires were hooked up to trees. We wanted to simulate that look of a backpack where you’re kind of low.

SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI Strapped on and just hanging there.

FANNING That also required my real legs to be painted out because I play a broken synth. So I had blue, very stylish stockings on, and my legs were in a sling that was hooked up to a wire. We could then run through these rivers together and up mountains. We had the harnesses, but we also had this wheelbarrow situation. This rig would hook up to Dimitrius’ waist, and then he would pull me up these hills while I would be sitting on these two wheels. That was a whole interesting contraption.

SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI That was a great one.

FANNING But when we sat down, our stools had to be different heights.

SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI That was funny. There were a lot of moving pieces.

FANNING Sometimes, I would just go on my tiptoes, and we would do it practically. I would walk backwards, and we would coordinate our steps. We learned that way later on. I was like, “We didn’t need to wear a harness all the time.”

SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI (Laughs.) “Wait a minute, this might work.”

FANNING (Laughs.) “I think I can do this for real.”

(LR) Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and Thia (Elle Fanning) in Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands 20th Century Studios

Dimitirus, was it pretty jarring to see Elle transition from Thia to Tessa?

SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI It’s funny you say that. It actually was quite a noticeable difference between when she was dressed as Thia and when she was dressed as Tessa. My body could feel it. When she’d be walking around in Tessa’s clean-cut white [suit]I would just get a little bit standoffish. I’d be like, “I don’t know this lady, actually. She’s a bit different from my other friend.” But, honestly, I have to give massive props to Elle for her performances as both. She did so well in differentiating both roles. Playing dual roles is such a hard ask of any actor, but she did it so effortlessly and with so much grace. It was honestly so awesome to be able to witness that.

FANNING (A genuinely flattered Fanning turns to Schuster-Koloamatangi to say a quiet thank you.)

Elle, you saw Demetrius’ uncovered face perform Dek’s expressions on the day, but can you still recognize his facial movements in the final version of Dek?

FANNING I absolutely can. Badlands is the first film in the Predator franchise where the protagonist is a Predator. You get to learn his history and that he actually has these emotions and feelings. Dimitrius’ performance is so incredible that those emotions still shine through after they put everything on there [in post]. His eyes, his hurt, his longing, his fight, his rage, you can see all of that. It was helpful for both of us [to have his face exposed on the day]but it was especially for me to be able to connect with him as an actor in these scenes together. He also learned a completely different language. Yautja is a made-up language, but it’s real. We had an amazing linguist who created it, and Dimitrius had to learn it. He is fluent. So it was interesting when he would speak in Yautja, and I would respond in English. A lot of it was about the rhythm and timing of the buddy comedy-esque scenes at times. So to hit that joke and get it just right, we had to run a lot of lines together to make it work in different languages.

Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) in Predator: Badlands 20th Century Studios

Badlands ends in a very satisfying way, but it does leave room for more. How much light has Dan shed on his future plans?

SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI Not too much!

FANNING & SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI (Laugh.)

FANNING He hasn’t told us too much. But I do love the way it ends. There’s definitely potential for lots of things, and I would follow Dan anywhere. He is so smart with this franchise, and I love his big, bold swings. I think that’s important, and it feels like this movie can hopefully open up a new generation of Predator fans. You don’t have to have seen the previous ones to be able to watch this film and love this film. So I’m sure he has a lot of ideas. He’s always thinking.

SCHUSTER-KOLOAMATANGI He has something cooking. That man is a genius.

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Predator: Badlands opens Nov. 7 in movie theaters nationwide.