"Had to do one in English"- Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi shares details about his Predator: Badlands audition

Predator: Badlands dropped in the theaters on November 7, 2025, through 20th Century Studios. Prior to that, it had its world premiere at LA's TCL Chinese Theatre. Dan Trachtenberg has directed the film. He had also helmed Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers.

World Premiere Of 20th Century Studios "Predator: Badlands" - Source: Getty

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who plays the Dek in the film, recently spoke about his audition process for the role. When asked how he went to the audition when he didn't even know the character or the film at first, he said,

"I had to do one in English."

Dek's character is a departure from the franchise norm, as the first Predator to appear as the protagonist.

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi talks about auditioning for Predator: Badlands

In an interview with Variety, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi spoke about his audition process for Predator: Badlands. The actor plays the role of Dek, a Predator alien on his journey to find his adversary. Dimitrius was asked how he auditioned, given that he didn't know he was unaware of the franchise.

"I had to do one in English, one in an alien language that's up to you to make up. I had a lot of fun just remixing Samoan and Tongan and gibberish. From there, I got a call back, and it was an obstacle course. I was like, what is this job?"

He further added,

"Because I am competitive, I had to keep reminding myself, “It’s not a race.” I had to keep slowing down to focus on performance, just show as much creature as I could. They had been drip feeding us information throughout. I was finding out, like, the director is Dan Trachtenberg, the studio is [20th Century]. I was doing a little research in the background, like, “Wait, this could be Predator, but I’m not sure.” So I just took a swing and was aiming my performance towards a Predator-like creature."

Predator: Badlands is produced by Dan Trachtenberg, John Davis, Ben Rosenblatt, Marc Toberoff, and Brent O'Connor under their banners of Lawrence Gordon Productions, Davis Entertainment, and Toberoff Entertainment. Elle Fanning is playing dual roles in the film as Thia and Tessa. Meanwhile, Dimitrius has also played the dual characters of Dek and Njohrr. Other cast members include Mike Homik as Kwei, Rohinal Nayaran as Bud, Reuben De Jong as Father, and Cameron Brown as Drone Synth.

Jeff Cutter has shot the film, while Stefan Grube and David Trachtenberg are the editors. The music is composed by Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch.

The film is currently playing in the theaters.