PREY Interview With Star Dakota Beavers On Fighting The Predator And Exploring The Comanche Nation (Exclusive)

Prey star Dakota Beavers talks to us about playing Taabe in the Predator reboot, explaining how he prepared to join the iconic franchise, what it was like to take the fight to the alien, and much more.

By JoshWilding - Aug 05, 2022 11:08 AM EST

Filed Under: Predator

Prey tells the story of a young woman, Naru, a fierce and highly skilled warrior who has been raised in the shadow of some of the most legendary hunters to roam the Great Plains.

So when danger threatens her camp, she sets out to protect her people. The prey she stalks, and ultimately confronts, turns out to be a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal, resulting in a vicious and terrifying showdown between the two adversaries.

Dakota Beavers plays Taabe in the new Predator movie, and we caught up with the musician a few weeks ago to find out what it was like to make his acting debut as part of this iconic franchise. As well as delving into the challenges he faced exploring the Comanche Nation and following in the footsteps of Arnold Schwarzenneger, he also reflects on facing the Predator on set.

Dakota also reflects on working with Amber Midthunder, his intense training, and the level of secrecy that surrounded the project (meaning he didn't initially know Prey would feature a Predator).

Check out the full interview with Dakota below:

Did you know from the start that Prey was a Predator film and, either way, what was your reaction to learning you'd be part of this iconic sci-fi franchise?

It was a dream come true for sure. I didn’t really know. I got approached by a casting agent and she said, ‘I have a small part in a movie I’d like you to audition for.’ I said ‘Okay.’ I did it a few times, they eventually flew me out to L.A., and I figured it out there. At that point, I was blown away when I realised it wasn’t such a small part. That was a very big surprise for me.

As an actor, how did it feel to be standing on set with the Predator?

The first time I saw him, he was walking through the trees in the suit. I was like, ‘Holy crap, that’s pretty cool.’ When Taabe sees the Predator for the first time, he says in Comanche, ‘That’s some crazy sh*t.’ It was similar for me!

In terms of working with both practical and visual effects on this film, what was that experience like for you?

You know, it was interesting. I got to get a little bit of both worlds on this movie which I was thankful for just for the experience. Obviously, my scenes with the Predator, he’s wearing the full-on suit, so I get to react to that. Also, I got to shoot with bluescreens occasionally during reshoots when we don’t have the same background or even weapons being changed. Little things like that. Luckily, it all came together in a way that was comfortable for me.

There’s a great level of representation in this movie in terms of exploring the Comanche Nation, but what did it mean to you to get to explore that alongside those action scenes?

It meant everything to me that I could be part of this project. The fact it was so keen on making sure it was culturally accurate and having Jhane, a Comanche woman herself, as the producer at the head of this project with Dan was an honour for me. So many times in the past, indigenous people get portrayed incorrectly just because of a lack of information and knowledge. Having her there was golden for me.

In terms of exploring the Comanche Nation, what did you find most interesting or challenging to delve into?

The language for me…I’m kind of a language buff. I find them really interesting. Sitting down and dubbing the entire movie in Comanche and the Comanche lines we had were going to be how it was filmed, so I auditioned in Comanche. Just learning about sentence structure and how certain words and letters were pronounced was fun for me and something I really enjoyed.

At the heart of this film is Taabe's relationship with Naru, but what sort of work did you and Amber do to build on that dynamic and did you find that you also developed that same sibling bond?

It was great. We had a four-week boot camp before the movie with myself, Amber, and the boys, so we got to spend a lot of time together. We all hung out after work too. We’d go out and cause trouble around town and in the woods, so we got to spend a lot of time chatting, playing music, and shooting the breeze. That was certainly very helpful as a comfort level before acting off somebody.

When it came to the action scenes, what was it like to be thrown into those and how much training did you get to prepare? Did you end up walking away from the film with any injuries given how much action you saw?

Yeah! I told our stunt coordinator, Steven McMichael, that I wanted to do as many stunts as he would let me. Well, I kind of told him I wanted to do all of them [Laughs]. He didn’t end up letting me do that, thank goodness, but I certainly had a few injuries I didn’t want to tell anybody about because I didn’t want them to take me off doing what I was doing. When I’m rolling in the dirt, I’m not wearing a shirt, so I was just covered in scratches. There’s a scene where I’m laying horizontally on the ground and I pulled an abdominal muscle really badly. That was actually really painful but I didn’t tell anybody [Laughs]. I wanted to do it all if they’d let me.

How familiar were you with the Predator movies before joining this project and, as it is your first movie role, did you feel intimidated at all by the history it has?

The extent of my familiarity was mostly with the first one. Growing up, you know so many of those iconic lines and everyone seems to love that first one. After I learned I’d got the role, I went and watched the other movies. There’s certainly a level of uncertainty, I guess, when you’re going in the shoes of Arnold and all those jacked guys in the first one. Luckily, it’s so different. They wanted me looking period accurate as this thin and sinewy Native dude who could kick butt. If I looked like Arnold it would probably look pretty dumb with us being in the 1700s [Laughs]. It was different enough that it maybe wouldn’t matter so much to people.

You may not look like Arnie in this film, but you kick a lot of ass and take the fight to the Predators. That must have been pretty satisfying.

Definitely! I was so pleased with how everything turned out. It’s just so fast and precise and realistic. My scenes are as realistic as they could be when you’re fighting this seven-foot-plus beast. If you can keep it from touching you, you’re pretty golden, but the guy is a formidable opponent.

Prey premieres exclusively on Hulu on August 5!

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31 Comments

QuietStorm - 8/5/2022, 11:10 AM

Film definitely lives up to the hype. Solid from start to finish. Dakota did his thing too!

MrDandy - 8/5/2022, 11:26 AM

Looking forward to watching this. I’m trying to decide which version to watch and I think I’m going with the native Comanche language version. First because I think it will be a little weird for them to all be speaking English and second because the director said he originally wanted to just make the Comanche language version and the studio made him shoot both. I think I’ll stick to the director’s original vision.

inkniron - 8/5/2022, 11:37 AM

@MrDandy - I can respect that. The other hand though, if I don’t have to be caught up reading subtitles when I’m trying to be entertained, I won’t. That’s why I watched squid game with the poor English dub to it.

vegetaray - 8/5/2022, 11:45 AM

@MrDandy - I watched the regular Weston last night and will watch the subtitles version today…

QuietStorm - 8/5/2022, 12:29 PM

@MrDandy - I watched with the Comanche dub version and it didnt take away too much from the film. There is one point where another language is being spoken that is not converted to english subtitles but based on whats going on in the scene, you really dont need to know what they are saying. It's conveyed in the acting. I'll watch the english version tonight for good measure though.

MrDandy - 8/5/2022, 2:15 PM

@vegetaray -
@QuietStorm

Let me know what you both think! I’m curious which version people will like more

QuietStorm - 8/10/2022, 11:04 AM

@MrDandy - I definitely liked the Comanche version better. It made me feel much more immersed in the film. The only thing I can say that bothered me which was corrected in english, was that in the commanche dub subititles, someone said, "I need to go to the bathroom." And that took me out of it for a brief moment. But in the english version, you hear him say, "I have to take a squat." So I hope that squat can replace bathroom in the Comanche version asap. Being that its streaming, perhaps its nothing but an update. Still loved the film and hope they use this momentum to give us another great film, no matter what timeline or plots they follow.

Would like to see at least part of a film or a conclusion of a film where the Predators win though. Maybe that will be where they go back to 1719, destroy the comanche people, bring on the xenomorphs and defeat them too, but self detonate like the story in AVP1.

MrDandy - 8/10/2022, 11:20 AM

@QuietStorm - awesome! Was just wondering about this. I’ll have to check out that version.

TyrantBossMedia - 8/5/2022, 11:44 AM

These are some of the move banal, trite and generic questions asked. That's the best you could come up with?

"How did you feel?" "How did aha make you feel?"

C'mon guys.

vegetaray - 8/5/2022, 11:44 AM

Aside from some shoddy CGI on the wildlife, this film was excellent…Understandable because they probably used up most of the budget on the Predator…That being said, this was leaps and bounds better than any other Predator movie outside of the original…Has me genuinely excited for the future of the franchise for the first time since Predator 2 came out…

Also it made me realize how much I miss a good truncated 90 minute action movie…No fat in the story at all, just right to the point…Definitely deserves all the praise it’s getting…

QuietStorm - 8/5/2022, 12:30 PM

@vegetaray - That was the best part. It got straight to the point. I really wish this was in theaters because with the 90 min runtime and word of mouth, I know it would have done great for the boxoffice.

SonOfAGif - 8/6/2022, 2:04 AM

@vegetaray - I loved how experimental this film turned out to be for the Predator species long term. 200 years later Predators are bigger, use faster projectile weaponary, use body armor, and wear helmets that protect their entire face. It was almost as if this specific Predator was the beta test for how the Predator species wanted to continue evolving to become the Apex species on every planet.

vegetaray - 8/6/2022, 8:46 AM

@SonOfAGif - For sure…It even went beyond equipment advancement for me…

I know the cast referred to this Predator as being “feral” but I think he’s more of a berserker than anything…He took damage from every fight he had, even from the wolf, simply because he rushed into each one head first without any type of real tactical approach to the hunt…Meanwhile in the OG film the Predator took a good chunk of time observing Dutch’s team and game plan how he’d take them down…

To me it’s like comparing a Viking berserker to a Navy Seal…The advancement in equipment and tactics from one to the other was played out excellently here…Not only did their human Prey advance over the centuries, but so did the Predator hunters…Really good stuff…

TheVandalore - 8/5/2022, 4:50 PM

He looks like Corey Feldman to me.

Looking forward to watching this tonight.

Darth258 - 8/5/2022, 5:40 PM

Just finished watching it, it was really good.

AquaClunge - 8/5/2022, 8:09 PM

Enjoyed it a lot, doesn't beat the original but that one had the privilege of being the first in the series.

SonOfAGif - 8/6/2022, 1:58 AM

It's so funny to me how every Predator is a coward at the end of the day. For the most part they want to be the Apex Predator in combat but they fight unfair and resort to explosions to help them escape. Predator's constantly use their weapons as instant kills instead of fighting it's target with brute force. So the Predator is no different from an athlete using performance enhancing drugs to chest their way to victory.

AquaClunge - 8/6/2022, 4:59 AM

@SonOfAGif - and stay camouflaged for like most of the time 🤣 I always thought this.

vegetaray - 8/6/2022, 8:37 AM

@ClungesForever - 😂…Same thing for me…

Not sure if you’ve watched this new one yet but there’s a cool scene where Dakota’s acknowledges the Predators use of camouflage by swearing at him in Comanche…Like this chicken shit just won’t fight fair…

AquaClunge - 8/6/2022, 8:59 AM

@vegetaray - yeah I watched it last night and loved it 🤣

TheVandalore - 8/6/2022, 3:08 AM

Holy shit. That was phenomenal! I'd say it's tied with the original,aybe even a little better in my personal opinion. The original gets points for limitations of the time and pioneering this whole thing, but Prey was a wonderful sequel and the best follow up to the original. Well done to everyone involved. Dan is a beast of a director!

JobinJ - 8/6/2022, 6:20 AM

Awesome movie. Predator vs Frenchman battle scene is the best predator vs human fight sequence in any predator movie including the original. Period.

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PREY Interview With Star Dakota Beavers On Fighting The Predator And Exploring The Comanche Nation (Exclusive)

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