Nimród Antal Explains Casting Adrien Brody in Predators
Posted 12.01.09 by BrentJS
When producer Robert Rodriguez declared his new film Predators a
direct sequel to Predator (and ignoring Predator 2), many were expecting the sort of beefy cast that was assembled for the 1987 original. So, when it was first announced that Academy Award-winning actor Adrien Brody was cast in the lead role, the reactions of fans and critics were not overwhelmingly positive.
One of the more scathing responses to the news came from Jarett Wieselman of The New York Post who wrote:
If I was combing through a crowd of actors for one I could trust to get me to the chopper, I'd blow right past Adrien Brody and keep holding out for a hero.
In a recent interview with Coming Soon, Predators director Nimród Antal explained his decision to cast Brody by saying that he wanted his soldiers to look more authentic than the original's cast.
I think when we cast Adrian, there were a lot of people going, "What?" but at the same time, if we cast a Vin Diesel in that role or if we cast anyone who is Arnold-esque, we would have been attacked for doing that. So we decided early on to go in a very different direction as far as the casting process, but it turned out fantastic. He plays a mercenary in the film and if you look at the guys in Iraq and Afghanistan today, they're not "yolked-out" Schwarzenegger-looking guys. They're all very wiry and thin guys, and I think it's going to play well.
With Schwarzenegger's recent, albeit digital appearance in Terminator: Salvation, many have wondered if he might make a return appearance in Predators as Dutch. In June, it was reported that Rodriguez had "reached out" to Schwarzenegger to appear in a supporting role, but Antal's recent statements seem to indicate that he is looking toward the future of the franchise rather than to its past.
Time will tell. We'll see, but we are trying to stay with the original as far as the monster and the atmosphere and the tone of the film, but we are trying to do something new and contemporary and feels fresh.
Next Showing: Predators opens July 9, 2010