Amber Midthunder Explains How Billie Eilish and 'Breaking Bad' Influenced 'Prey'

The director and lead of "Prey" turned to surprising pop culture staples for inspiration while making the film, which became Hulu's most successful premiere to date ( breaking a record set by "The Kardashians"). Amber Midthunder, who stars in the prequel to the Predator franchise - which follows the seminal alien's arrival on Earth - told POPSUGAR "Billie Eilish's music was actually 'a really big part of this movie for me.' .

Midthunder plays Naru, a young Comanche warrior who ends up hunting the hunter. She says she's "a huge fan of Billie Eilish. Her music, at the time, really became one of my gateways." Her process, she explains, involved "everything from studying the Comanches to physical preparation to listening to 'All the Good Girls Go to Hell,'" a song from Eilish's 2019 debut album, "When we all fall asleep, where do we go?"

Director Dan Trachtenberg was also inspired by another notable figure in the pop culture zeitgeist: Walter White, the main character of 'Breaking Bad'. "Today [Trachtenberg] said something about [how] he was thinking a lot about 'Breaking Bad' when he was making this movie," Midthunder said, noting that the director explained "some kind of connection between my character and Walter White. I was like, 'I've never heard that before,'" she laughs.

Although Naru is quite a far cry from a science teacher-turned-drug kingpin, she begins the film underappreciated and seeks to prove herself - and things are a little different at the end, which is the least we can say.

"Prey" was praised for Midthunder's star-making performance and gripping action sequences, as well as having an all-Comanche dub, becoming the first film to offer such option. For Midthunder, a registered member of the Fort Peck Sioux Tribe, the film was also a