Why is Kevin Peter Hall an honorary member here? Easy.
Even before "Predator," Kevin was already an accomplished character actor/creature actor. Ever seen the movie "Prophecy?" No, not with Christopher Walken. It's a movie about toxic spillage into a mountain stream, and the mutants it creates.. especially a big ******' bear monster. Played by none other than Kevin Peter Hall. However he is uncredited. Fuckers.
Although he was very modest about his characters in interviews, just watching Predator and Predator 2 you can tell he put a lot of thought, emotion and performance into each character. He gave them personalities and totally sold the "man in a suit" execution as an actual, physical being in each movie. It wasn't a man in a suit... it was the Predator. ****.. even in Harry and the Hendersons; there was only so much Rick Baker could do.
Kevin was built for creature work, no doubt, but he also did movies with out foam latex. Catch "Big-top Pee-Wee" on HBO early in the morning. Yeah, the movie sucks, but keep an eye out for "Big John." Also he starred in the "Misfits of Science."
Not only did he bring the Predator character to life, but he also showed that he could do it again in Predator 2.
Ian Whyte's performance in AVP consisted of him, for the most part, just standing there. Oh yeah, and walking tough. Turning his head dramatically every once and a while. To my knowledge he had no previous work such as this. It doesn't matter how many Predators he played, I just don't think he was well prepared for AVP - and it showed. He's a jock, and to me it's like that guy in gym class who's way bigger than you and gives you **** all the time landing the role of your favorite movie monster. Whoops. Wait. What? Im pretty sure I sound like an ******* about now, but the difference is this- WE are everyday people who put together one of the most complicated costumes ever. We do whatever we can to get that suit ready, and to perform in it that's respectable of the character itself. We don't just show up, let a group of people slap on a latex suit, do whatever for the almight pay check, take it off and go home, and forget about the day.
We have PASSION. Kevin had PASSION. Anything I ever saw with him and AVP he was just kinda like "Whatever, I'm here. When do I get a break?"
We'll see how he does in Aliens Vs. Predator II.
P.S. I think that everyone here could bring more to the table than Whyte did in AVP.
Word.
