The titular alien in the Predator movies was initially meant to be played by none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme. He obviously didn't, and ended up leaving the film when he found out that he was little more than a stunt man, and couldn't do any of his martial arts in his epic battle against Arnold Schwarzenegger. Apparently, stalking and clicking are poor artistic substitutes.

At the time of his departure, the Predator looked very different from how we know it today, and there was no way Van Damme could have performed any spectacular stunts while wearing the suit. As he explained it to AV Club, "My feet were in the cast of the alien. My hands were in the forearms, my head was in the neck. I was moving everything with cables. It was a very unsecure, very dangerous type of outfit." His movement would have been very limited and impractical, not to mention the fact that the story just didn't call for cool Van Damme-y movement.

Van Damme was hired less for his agility and the fluidity of his movement, and more to play a special effect, and little more. This just didn't sit well with the Muscles from Brussels, so he walked after only two days of production — but JCVD's short run as the Predator lives on in the 2018 franchise reboot movie The Predator. The film's cinematographer, Larry Fong, announced on Twitter that the movie contains a well-buried reference or "Easter egg" to Van Damme's ill-fated stint. Van Damme spent his brief time on set wearing a bright red creature suit, so colored to facilitate special effects in post-production. A reddish-pink critter makes an appearance in The Predator, to the delight of fans both eagled-eyed and well versed in their Predator history.