Interview with Derek Mears, Pt.2

Derek Mears is best known for playing Jason Voorhees in 2009’s reboot of “Friday the 13th”. He is starring in this summer’s reboot of “Predators” as the Classic Predator. He is currently filming in Hawaii for a little film called “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”. Movie Mikes got a chance to talk to Derek again, you can check out our first interview here. This time we got Derek to spill some information about his role in “Predators”.

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Mike Gencarelli: In “Predators”, you play the classic Predator, tell us about your role in the film and also the other Predators?
Derek Mears: What I can say about playing Classic Predator is, It is f*&#ing cool! My fan boy mind has been blown. This time around they have some new Predators and there are different races. So far fans have only seen one which is the classic race. They are a little taller, a little leaner, a little darker and their technology is a little more advanced. KNB EFX knocked it out of the ball park with their designs. When I saw their new designs, I thought that they were really really cool.

Mike Gencarelli: Have you seen the other films in the series?
Derek Mears: Of course I have. I’ve seen all the films. Like in our last interview I said, I love horror, sci-fi and comic books.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you prepare for this role?
Derek Mears: I knew I was going to be zipped up in a giant monster suit. I did a lot of endurance training. I was trying to figure out with the character how to make it more fluent and animalistic.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us a cool story from the set during the film of the “Predators”?
Derek Mears: You got good questions. Damn it, you’re making me think! [laughs]. Let me think…Nimrod (Antal), the director is such a big fan of “Predator” and I remember he was giggling and laughing during the shoot. He yelled out to the cast and crew, “There is a 12-year old fat kid named Nimrod who had a “Predator” poster above his bed and he is losing his mind right now”. His energy and love for the character was so infectious. Sometimes if you weren’t sure how a take went, you would just look at his eyes. He would light up and say “Pancakes”. If you heard “Pancakes” that means you were doing a fantastic job. You would ask, “How was that?”, he would then say “Pancakes, baby!! That was pancakes!!”. So I guess I did a good job [laughs].

Mike Gencarelli: How long did it take to apply the costume?
Derek Mears: To put it on it was about an hour. Some days it was like an hour and a half to get out. When I didn’t wear the battle helmet and just had a mask, they had to glue black rubber donuts over my eyes for padding. Then put my contacts in, so that took a little extra time.

Mike Gencarelli: What was the first thing you thought when you were suited up for the first time in your costume?
Derek Mears: The first thing I thought was where is the zipper so in case I have to go to the bathroom I can relieve myself [laughs]. I was really excited when I put the outfit on because the way it felt and moved, it was made for my body. Sometimes when you wear different prosthetics and monster suits you have to over exaggerate what you are doing. With this it was so super thin and skin tight. Everything read beyond clear and that is all to the artistry of KNB EFX.

Mike Gencarelli: How do you think fans are going to react to this film?
Derek Mears: I think they are going to like it. What the focus of this one was was to get it back to a hard R rating and to make it realistic and not campy whatsoever. They didn’t want to do PG-13 to reach a mass audience. I think it will deliver to the fans.

Mike Gencarelli: Have you heard word about possibly returning for another “Predators”?
Derek Mears: It’s funny, because you hear it every time you work on a film. At the end of the film you hear “Dude, they want to do part 2”. You hear that on every film you work on. I really don’t know if they are thinking about a sequel or not. I hope so.

Mike Gencarelli: What are you currently shooting in Hawaii?
Derek Mears: I am currently shooting “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and we are told to be tight lipped about it. All I am able to say is that I am part of the cast and that is it. It is really exciting though.

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