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Tom Woodruff, Jr. (born January 21,[1] 1959)[2] is an Academy Award-winning American special effects artist and actor who portrayed the Lead Alien in the 1997 film Alien Resurrection and Grid in the 2004 film Alien vs. Predator. He also served as part of the creature effects crew on the 1986 film Aliens, the 1992 film Alien3, Alien Resurrection, the Alien vs. Predator, the 2007 film Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and the 2018 film The Predator. He also portrayed the Alien in Alien3 and the Predalien (as well as the normal Aliens and, very briefly, Wolf) in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, and appeared in cameo as an unnamed technician in Alien vs. Predator, although he was not credited for these roles.

In 1988, Woodruff co-founded Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. (ADI) with Alec Gillis, and the company has since provided creature effects for Alien3, Alien Resurrection, Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.

Woodruff has won an Academy Award for Visual Effects (for Death Becomes Her) and a BAFTA. For his work on Alien3, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Visual Effects, a BAFTA and a Saturn Award. He is frequently listed among the top 10 creature performers.[3][4][5]

Work[]

Aliens[]

Alienschristmascard

The card.[6]

In 1985, Woodruff was working for Stan Winston on Aliens.[6] Woodruff helped sculpt the Alien Warrior head at Stan Winston Studio and touched up paint on the head in the workshop at Pinewood Studios.[7] Shortly after the Warrior costumes were completed and before filming, Tom stayed late after-hours one night, got into costume, and Richard Landon took the first set of photos of a completed Alien, "without even the benefit of covering the suit in slime as intended for the film."[8][6] Woodruff and Landon found a snowy backdrop outside of their workshop and he "thought it'd make a nice Christmas Card someday".[6] Tom was "more interested in seeing how different body posing could disguise the shape of a man inside the suit than the intended on-screen finished look."[8]

After seeing some of the performances and physiques of some of the performers wearing the Alien suits in Aliens, Tom was motivated to have a talk with Stan Winston that led to playing Gill-man (from Creature from the Black Lagoon) in a cameo appearance in The Monster Squad, their next film.[8]

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem[]

As Predalien[]

In certain scenes, Woodruff had to stand on boxes to make his Predalien as tall as Wolf.

As Wolf[]

In Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Woodruff played Wolf in insert shots of the Predator's hand pressing buttons on the wrist gauntlet while Wolf is inside the crashed Scout Ship.[9]

Alien 5[]

There was a rumour that ADI had pitched their own Alien 5 to 20th Century Fox. In an interview with blogs Strange Shapes and Monster Legacy published on January 16, 2014, Woodruff stated, "If true, I would not elaborate."[8][10]

The Predator[]

After nearly a decade away from the Alien and Predator movies, Woodruff and Alec Gillis returned in The Predator recommended by producer John Davis and co-writer Fred Dekker (who knew the duo since Monster Squad, which he co-wrote with The Predator director Shane Black), to do the Predator make-up.[11] He's also acknowledged with an in-joke, where at a certain point in the movie a cop mentions "Woodruff Street".

Awards and Nominations[]

Year Film Notes
1992 Alien3 Nominated — Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
Nominated — BAFTA for Best Special Effects
Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Special Effects
1997 Alien Resurrection Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Special Effects

Filmography[]

Year Title Functioned as Notes
Effects Artist Actor
1984 The Terminator GreenTick RedCross With Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton and Arnold Schwarzenegger, directed by James Cameron
1986 The Vindicator GreenTick RedCross
Aliens GreenTick GreenTick Uncredited as actor
1987 The Monster Squad GreenTick GreenTick
1988 Pumpkinhead GreenTick GreenTick With Lance Henriksen, directed by Stan Winston
Alien Nation GreenTick RedCross With Abraham Alvarez, Tom Finnegan, Alec Gillis, Diana James and Thomas Rosales, Jr.
1989 Leviathan GreenTick GreenTick Uncredited as actor
1990 Tremors GreenTick GreenTick Uncredited as actor
1992 Alien3 GreenTick GreenTick Uncredited
Death Becomes Her GreenTick RedCross With Paulo Tocha
1993 Demolition Man GreenTick RedCross With Steve Kahan, Henry Kingi and Jesse Ventura
1994 Wolf GreenTick RedCross
1995 Mortal Kombat GreenTick GreenTick Uncredited as actor; with Brad Martin and Rodney Mitchell, directed by Paul W. S. Anderson
Jumanji GreenTick GreenTick Uncredited as actor
1996 Tremors 2 Aftershocks GreenTick RedCross With Thomas Rosales, Jr.
Michael GreenTick GreenTick Uncredited as actor
1997 Alien Resurrection GreenTick GreenTick
Starship Troopers GreenTick RedCross With Michael Papajohn
1998 The X-Files GreenTick GreenTick With William H. Burton, Jr.
1999 My Favourite Martian GreenTick RedCross With David St. James
2000 Hollow Man GreenTick GreenTick
Bedazzled GreenTick GreenTick With Thomas Rosales, Jr.
Cast Away GreenTick RedCross
2001 Evolution GreenTick GreenTick With Steven Gilborn
Bubble Boy GreenTick RedCross With Danny Trejo
Tremors 3: Back to Perfection GreenTick RedCross With Eddie Yansick
2002 John Q GreenTick RedCross
The Santa Clause 2 GreenTick RedCross
2003 Scary Movie 3 GreenTick RedCross
Looney Tunes: Back in Action GreenTick GreenTick Uncredited as actor; with Archie Hahn and Ron Perlman
2004 Tremors 4: The Legend Begins GreenTick RedCross With J. E. Freeman and Eddie Yansick
Alien vs. Predator GreenTick GreenTick
2005 Elektra GreenTick GreenTick Uncredited as actor
2006 Failure to Launch GreenTick RedCross
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause GreenTick RedCross
2007 Wild Hogs GreenTick RedCross
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem GreenTick GreenTick
2009 Super Capers: The Origins of Ed and the Missing Bullion GreenTick RedCross
Race to Witch Mountain GreenTick GreenTick
Cirque du Freak GreenTick GreenTick
Old Dogs GreenTick GreenTick With Michael Papajohn
2010 Skyline GreenTick RedCross
2011 Beautiful Wave GreenTick GreenTick Uncredited as actor; with Lance Henriksen
Zookeeper GreenTick GreenTick
2012 Astronaut: The Last Push GreenTick GreenTick With Alec Gillis and Lance Henriksen
2013 Grown Ups 2 GreenTick RedCross With Eddie Yansick
Ender's Game GreenTick RedCross
2018 The Predator GreenTick RedCross

Documentary Appearances[]

Trivia[]

  • Technically, as he very briefly stood in for Ian Whyte as Wolf for insert shots in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Woodruff is the only actor to have played both an Alien and a Predator.
  • Ironically, every time Woodruff has been nominated for a major award for his effects work on an Alien film, he has lost out to his own work on another movie — in 1993, his Academy Award, BAFTA and Saturn Award nominations for Alien3 all lost out to his work on Death Becomes Her, while in 1998, his Saturn Award nomination for Alien Resurrection lost out to his work on Starship Troopers.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

See Also[]

External Links[]

References[]

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