Watch Jean-Claude Van Damme in Original PREDATOR Suit
If you're a fan of the movie Predator, you've got to watch this video commentary from Stan Winston School. It features Makeup FX innovator Steve Johnson giving us the history of the Predator costume, showing the original "terrible" design. It even includes video footage of aspiring action star at the time Jean-Claude Van Damme wearing a version of the suit that would be used for cloaking scenes.
I love how no one on the production explained to Van Damme what he would be doing in the film or why he was wearing the suit. Poor guy thought that was what the alien would look like, and he was kind of pissed off, especially when he learned he wouldn't be performing any martial arts or fighting Arnold Schwarzenegger.
When the final version of the suit was developed, Kevin Peter Hall was the guy who stepped into the role. I'm so glad they didn't go with that original design, the final design used in the film is so much better. I can't imagine the Predator looking any other way.
Thanks to io9