| Dane DiLiegro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Dane Robert DiLiegro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 6 August 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Lexington, Massachusetts, US | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Actor, Basketball player | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years Active: | 2007–2019 (basketball) 2019–present (acting) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dane Robert DiLiegro (; born August 6, 1988) is an American actor and former basketball player. DiLiegro played professional basketball for eight seasons for teams in Italy and Israel.[1] DiLiegro has appeared in productions such as American Horror Stories, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Sweet Home, and starred as the Predator in the film Prey; which currently holds the record for biggest movie or tv series premiere in Hulu history.[2]
After graduating from Lexington High School in 2006, DiLiegro went on to spend a year at Worcester Academy, where he refined his skills as a basketball player in the school's postgraduate program. He averaged 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks at Worcester. This led to DiLiegro receiving a full athletic scholarship to play at the University of New Hampshire.[3]
As a four-year starter for the New Hampshire Wildcats from 2007 to 2011, DiLiegro found his place on the team through defense, rebounding, and outworking his opponents. He graduated from UNH in May 2011 with the second-highest number of rebounds in program history.[4] DiLiegro made ESPN's Top Ten plays of the day on February 19, 2009, for a dunk.[5] [3]
After going undrafted in the 2011 NBA draft, DiLiegro went on to play in Europe, being a part of Assi Basket Ostuni, (Ostuni, Italy), Dinamo Sassari (Sassari, Sardinia, Italy), Pallacanestro Trieste (Trieste, Italy), Hapoel Gilboa Galil, (Gan Ner, Israel), Mens Sana 1871 Basket (Siena, Italy), Tezenis Verona (Verona, Italy), and Pallacanestro Forlì (Forlì, Italy).
DiLiegro won a gold medal with Team USA as a basketball player at the 18th Maccabiah Games in 2009 in Israel.[6]
In 2019, DiLiegro was invited to work as a stand-in on Free Guy, which was filming in his native Boston. While on the set, stunt coordinator Chris O’Hara suggested to DiLiegro to look into acting. Just two weeks later, DiLiegro was cast to play Protein in the Netflix show Sweet Home. The role required him to wear a foam latex suit weighing 80 pounds.[7] He followed it by playing Master Chief in an Xbox commercial. In 2021, he portrayed the titular character Ba'al in the fifth episode of American Horror Stories.[8] He starred as the main antagonist in the 2022 Doja Cat music video for Get Into It (yuh).[9] DiLiegro appeared in the Tom DeLonge-directed Monsters of California
He stars in the Predator film Prey as the Predator;[10] [11] He performed all the acting, stunts and motion capture of the creature. Prior to filming, he lost 25 pounds and spent months training parkour, martial arts and strengthening his neck due to the new design of the Predator, which sat the 15 pound animatronic head on top of his head, forcing him to shoot every scene essentially blind.[12] [13] [14]
DiLiegro conducted a substantial amount of research in preparation for his role as the Predator:
Director Dan Trachtenberg on DiLiegro's performance:
In 2022, Comic Book Resources named DiLiegro among the top ten monster actors of all time.[15]
DiLiegro appeared in the 2023 Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
In 2024, DiLiegro starred in the Blumhouse film Imaginary as the final antagonist, Chauncey Bear.
DiLiegro has confirmed that he will be appearing in a smaller role in the upcoming Lucasfilm production, .[16]
DiLiegro will appear as recurring character Badrag Knauss in the upcoming series Running Point, penned by Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen, for Netflix.[17] [18]
DiLiegro currently resides in Los Angeles
DiLiegro is Jewish. He holds USA, Italian, and Israeli citizenship.[19] His father is of Italian descent, with roots in Gaeta and Canosa di Puglia, and his mother is Jewish.[20]
DiLiegro's father played basketball and wrestled at the University of New Hampshire, and his brother played basketball for the Syracuse Orange from 2003 to 2007.[21]
Starting in 2016, DiLiegro served as an apprentice under famed Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini for multiple years; they continue to maintain a close friendship to this day.[22]
As of 2019, DiLiegro hosts a culinary travel series on YouTube called Adventure Monday,[23] which he tried to pitch in Los Angeles as a possible television series.
In August 2022, DiLiegro officiated the wedding of his friend, Kelly Olynyk.[24] [25]
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Prey | The Predator | Dan Trachtenberg | |
| 2023 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 | Unsavory Octopus | James Gunn | |
| Monsters of California | Bigfoot | Tom Delonge | ||
| Stay Out | Graham | Jared Safier | ||
| 2024 | Imaginary | Chauncey Bear | Jeff Wadlow | |
| Werewolves | Steven Miller | Post production |
| Year | Title | Role | Director/Showrunner | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Sweet Home | Protein | Lee Eung-bok | ||
| The Walking Dead | Hero Walker | Greg Nicotero | Episode: "A Certain Doom" | ||
| 2021 | Side Hustle | Zeke | Leonard R. Gardner Jr. | Episode: "Jag-Jitsu" | |
| American Horror Stories | Ba'al / Scare Patrol | Sanaa Hamri | Episodes: "Ba'al" & "Rubber (Wo)man" | ||
| 2022 | The Quest | Dragior | Elise Doganieri | Episode: "The Weight of the World" | |
| 2023 | That Girl Lay Lay | Kevin | Wendy Farone | Episode: "The Packer Packer Bowl" | |
| 2024 | Skeleton Crew | David Lowery | Post production | ||
| Cóyotl | Batan Silva | Post production | |||
| TBA | Running Point | Badrag Knauss | Mindy Kaling | Recurring role, upcoming series |
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Blackout | Beelzebub | Ian Rowe | Mothica | |
| 2022 | Get into it (Yuh) | Alien Overlord | Mike Diva | Doja Cat |
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Lucid Odyssey | Master Chief | Taika Waititi | ||
| 2023 | No Sweat | Basketball Player | Max Gutierrez | Draft Kings |