Long before JCVD landed in America, he was already on his way as an actor. Sort of. He had an incredibly small role in the Belgian-French drama film “Woman Between Wolf and Dog” (Also known as “Woman in a Twilight Garden” as well as a number of other names) in 1979. The film starred Marie-Christine Barrault as the female lead and none other than Rutger Hauer as the male lead.
Where did Van Damme land in the credits? He didn’t. His role – two, actually: Moviegoer and Man in Garden – was uncredited. The only reason his name is even on the Wikipedia page for the movie is because he became one of the biggest stars after the fact. Interestingly, the cinematographer for the movie was one Charles van Damme. We’re not sure if there’s any relation, but maybe that’s where Jean-Claude got the name.
Not the Name We Know
Jean-Claude Van Damme was born on October 18th, 1960 as Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, which is still his legal name even though he picked the much-cooler Van Damme appellation when he began his movie career. He was born to Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, who lived in Brussels at the time. As a young lad, Jean-Claude was surprisingly chubby and doughy.
Can’t be helped sometimes – we all went through a doughy phase while we were young. He wore glasses, had chubby cheeks, and usually rocked short blond hair. As he grew out of his baby fat he turned skinny, but that all ended when he turned ten. That was when his father enrolled him in Shotokan karate school in order to build up his self-confidence and give him a good activity.
Made for Martial Arts
Jean-Claude Van Damme took to martial arts like a duck takes to water. Before long he was also training as a kickboxer. He added weightlifting and ballet (great for agility) into his training routine, and from there it seemed like the sky was the limit. Once he was a teenager, he entered the Belgian National Center of Karate under the tutelage of Claude Goetz.
Van Damme had to train for four years before he earned a spot on the national karate team, but he earned it. He’s said that this wasn’t easy, especially since he added kickboxing, taekwondo, and Muay Thai to his repertoire. He admits that he was kind of geeky, and doing so much hard physical work was a struggle. However, it seems like he adapted.
A Winning Record
From 1976 to 1980, Van Damme began his competitive career at the tender age of fifteen. In tournament matches and non-tournament semi-contact matches, he racked up an impressive record of forty-four wins and only four losses. He was a member of the Belgium Karate Team when it won the European Karate Championship, making Jean-Claude Van Damme a Championship fighter.
Van Damme himself placed second in the Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament, beating twenty-five opponents over a three-day period before going up against his teammate from Belgium, Angelo Spataro, and losing. Beginning in full-contact karate, Van Damme then accumulated a record of eighteen victories and a single, solitary loss in 1982. The loss came just before Van Damme decided to hang up his fighting equipment, despite getting plenty of attention from the karate world as a whole.
More Than Just Fighting (But a Lot of Fighting)
It wasn’t just karate where JCVD excelled. He fought against numerous powerful opponents, including what he calls his most memorable match against former teammate Patrick Teugels. He’s gone up against Teugels a couple of times, but in 1977 he won a TKO by kicking Teugels so hard in the nose that he was unable to continue.
In addition, he was named “Mr. Belgium” in a bodybuilding competition. Once again, it seemed like Van Damme had the whole world at his fingertips. He was handsome, had plenty of physical skills, was earning championship hardware, and was getting his name out there. What else was there to do for somebody so young? Plenty of things, it turns out. He was catching a lot of eyes.
His Very First Role
Long before JCVD landed in America, he was already on his way as an actor. Sort of. He had an incredibly small role in the Belgian-French drama film “Woman Between Wolf and Dog” (Also known as “Woman in a Twilight Garden” as well as a number of other names) in 1979. The film starred Marie-Christine Barrault as the female lead and none other than Rutger Hauer as the male lead.
Where did Van Damme land in the credits? He didn’t. His role – two, actually: Moviegoer and Man in Garden – was uncredited. The only reason his name is even on the Wikipedia page for the movie is because he became one of the biggest stars after the fact. Interestingly, the cinematographer for the movie was one Charles van Damme. We’re not sure if there’s any relation, but maybe that’s where Jean-Claude got the name.
Before Leaving Brussels
Before JCVD decided to strike out away from his mother nation, he had a few irons in the fire – enough, in fact, to possibly keep him there for good. While in his teen years, he sold flowers at restaurants, but during his time as a karate champ he actually owned a gym. It was called “California Gym” for some reason, it opened in 1979, and it catered to anything you might want, from karate to bodybuilding to dancing.
And the gym flourished! At one point it was earning fifteen thousand dollars a month. In the end, however, Van Damme heard the siren call of Hollywood and sold the gym. His father almost couldn’t believe it, since it was more than providing for him. He had an apartment, a car, and a successful business. Was he really going to give all that up?
He Gave It All Up
In 1982, Jean-Claude Van Damme and his childhood friend Michel Qissi set off on a trip to the United States in an effort to make it big as actors. The two of them did a variety of odd jobs around town to keep themselves stable while they looked for acting roles. Both of them made it into a certain infamous eighties film you might have heard of: “Breakin.’”
Both men can be seen dancing in the background during one of the many dance scenes in the film. It wasn’t exactly a breakthrough, but it’s a pretty funny piece of movie trivia. At last, we have a reason to watch “Breakin.’” Clearly, there would be more than that required to get Van Damme a star on the Walk of Hollywood.
The Right Kind of Personal Skills
While Jean-Claude was trying to get himself in front of a camera, he took a couple of jobs around Hollywood. These include being a limousine driver and a private karate instructor. He was also the bouncer at a bar called Woody’s Wharf. Woody’s was owned by an already-established actor by the name of Chuck Norris, and at some point, during all of this time, he and Norris struck up a friendship.
Whether it was before or after he started working at Woody’s, it’s hard to tell. This would eventually help out Van Damme’s movie career in a big way, but before that, he and Norris spent time sparring together. Remember, Chuck Norris was also a lauded karate student, so we bet that these were some pretty crazy spars.
Sticking to a Schedule
When Van Damme sold his gym, he placed all the money except for a couple of grand in a European bank, which meant getting access to it while in Hollywood could prove difficult. For this reason, he spent some time struggling financially – don’t worry JCVD, all the greats have to go through it for a little while.
In order to keep his head on straight, he would go for a run every night in Santa Monica. Studies have shown that regular exercise is a great way to keep the bad thoughts at bay. He would also regularly train at the world-famous Gold’s Gym. He attributes this routine to being able to survive during the years when he was struggling and trying to break into the movies.
A Little White Lie
Speaking of breaking into the movies, it turns out that Van Damme was willing to do a whole lot in order to get his name out there. He was sending his headshot and resume to any casting calls he thought he might be a fit for, but there was more. He actually fabricated a story about being an actor from Brussels (technically true) and that he had an investor from Hong Kong (definitely not true).
He got a friend to play along and act like there was money to invest, but the movie required additional funding. He would approach producers with this story, and suddenly he found phone calls coming back to him. Obviously, this was never going to get him a starring role – it was literally just so he could make contact with the producers.
Another Chance
In 1984, Jean-Claude was able to get a little closer to the stardom he had been hoping for. The same studio that had employed him for “Breakin,’” Cannon Films, put out the action film “Missing in Action,” starring Van Damme’s good buddy Chuck Norris. While the movie is generally well-liked, many people found it a bit of a cash-in based on the Rambo series starring Sylvester Stallone.
Jean-Claude Van Damme plays both an extra soldier in an uncredited role and is credited on the stunt team crew. Well, look, we don’t even think he was expecting to get a starring role so quickly. There’s nothing wrong with slowly climbing the ladder to stardom. Chuck Norris was a huge name then, and that’s bound to mean something.
A Bigger Role, Slightly
The same year as “Missing in Action,” Van Damme had a role in the comedy short “Monaco Forever.” At only forty-eight minutes long, it doesn’t even meet the minimal feature-length requirements. It has actor Charles Pitt as Michael, an American jewel thief in Monaco who meets a bunch of wacky characters.
One of those characters was played by JCVD, and his character was credited as – brace yourselves – “Gay Karate Man.” Yes, it was indeed a different time. Still, this was an important role for the Muscles from Brussels, since it was his first credited appearance as a character. Other than that fact, there is little reason to remember it. It has a mere three-point-five out of ten rating on IMDB, so you know this film probably isn’t going to be something worth watching.
Taking Another Step Forward
The next moment worth discussing is almost two years later, on May 2nd, 1986. Corey Yuen’s martial arts film “No Retreat, No Surrender” premiered in Los Angeles, and it was Van Damme’s first role of any worth. He played a Soviet martial artist who was the villain in the movie, trying to take over a dojo.
The main character of the film, played by Kurt McKinney, learns martial arts from the spirit of Bruce Lee. Sure, it’s a little strange, but there are definitely a lot of much weirder – and probably worse – martial arts movies out there. Van Damme was also set to star in “No Retreat, No Surrender 2,” but backed out due to the safety concerns of filming in a Cambodian jungle. He also convinced Kurt McKinney to do the same.
He Was Almost an Alien Hunter
Jean-Claude Van Damme was the first choice to play the titular hunter from the movie “Predator.” The initial idea for the alien was to make a speedy, agile, almost ninja-like creature, which Van Damme would provide. However, he complained often about how hot it was inside the suit, which caused him to pass out. He was also upset about only ever appearing on camera while in the suit.
He dropped out of the project, and the filmmakers realized they wanted the enemy to be more physically imposing. Thus they brought on Kevin Peter Hall, who stood at a massive seven-foot-two, to create a monster that towered over everyone else, even Arnold Schwarzenegger. When asked about it later, JCVD said he had no regrets about stepping out of the role, and also that he liked the finished movie.
The Break
It was all leading up to this. Jean-Claude Van Damme had spent the last several months sleeping in cars and garages, and sometimes even stealing food to keep himself fed. He was close to giving up and returning home, and he had taken to begging for a starring role.
Finally, he was cast as U.S. Army Captain Frank Dux in the 1988 film “Bloodsport,” based on the alleged true story of the real Frank Dux. Dux has to take the place of his martial arts master’s deceased son in an illegal martial arts tournament in Hong Kong. The tournament was, as you might imagine, a bloody affair where people could lose their lives, but Van Damme’s character is successful in winning the tournament.
Details of the Bloody Film
Filmed almost entirely on location in Hong Kong, the movie has one of the few scenes of the inside of the Kowloon Walled City before it was demolished in 1993. Writer Sheldon Lettich came up with the idea for the film after knowing the real Frank Dux for a few months.
Despite the real Dux holding to his story about the Kumite event that he really attended, it’s likely the story is made up. Which, honestly, shouldn’t really be a surprise to anybody. Yeah, maybe there was some strange stuff going on in Hong Kong back in the day, but a bloody martial arts tournament? Take such a story with a grain of salt. Frank Dux had even coached a friend to pretend he was really at the same tournament – just like Van Damme coached a friend with his lie.
Top of the Charts
The film was a big success and a surprising one at that. With a budget of only 2.3 million dollars, the film pulled in a total of fifty million worldwide, making it Cannon Film’s most successful project. The critical response doesn’t exactly equal the audience's approval. Critics took aim at the cliches and bad acting in the film, though admitted the action scenes were pretty good.
Van Damme was actually nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star, but “lost” to Ronald McDonald in “Mac and Me.” Most reviews nowadays point out the same kinds of things and also say that unless you’re interested in the Muscles from Brussels and the fun fight scenes, there isn’t a lot to draw you to this film.
A Franchise of Sports
A film that garnered such box office acclaim, especially one from Cannon Films, who would make a sequel to any film that had any press whatsoever, is going to get a franchise. Such was the case with “Bloodsport.” Three sequels followed: “Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite,” “Bloodsport III,” and “Bloodsport 4: The Dark Kumite.” They were all direct-to-video sequels, and Jean-Claude Van Damme appeared in none of them.
While “Bloodsport” remains a cult film, the others in the series provided diminishing returns to fans. For a short time in 2011, a remake of the original was being planned. It was directed by James McTeigue in 2013, and while the filming is done, we think, the film has not yet been fully produced. If you’re waiting on bated breath for this one, you might as well relax.
Legacy of the Film
“Bloodsport” did more than just give Jean-Claude Van Damme a breakthrough. The movie is credited with popularizing the concepts of full contact and mixed-style martial arts competitions among mainstream viewers. For this reason, many early mixed martial arts competitions such as UFC 1 bore a striking similarity to the film, and its popularity helped to buoy their own.
There was even a “shoot-style” professional wrestling event called GCW Bloodsport directly inspired by the film. Finally, JCVD’s portrayal of Captain Frank Dux was so iconic that he’s immortalized in video game history: “Bloodsport” was one of the early inspirations for the video game “Mortal Kombat,” and Johnny Cage, one of the classic characters from the series, is a parody of the main character in the movie, or at least he started out that way.
A Different Kind of Leading Man
Why did “Bloodsport” become such a box office hit, even with its small budget and sub-par acting? Part of the reason is Jean-Claude Van Damme himself. Producer Mark Di Salle said he was on the hunt for a martial arts star who was a ladies’ man, and Van Damme was appealing as a star to both men and women.
He was described as “an American hero who fights for justice the American way and kicks the stuffing out of the bad guys.” Of course, the fact that Jean-Claude Van Damme is actually from Belgium didn’t seem to stop that sort of characterization. Still, we believe that Van Damme had no problems with such a characterization – at least he didn’t have to sleep in his car anymore.
Oh, There Was Also Another Movie From 1988
1988 is when “Bloodsport” launched Van Damme to relative fame, but it wasn’t the only movie he was in that came out that year. In “Black Eagle” he went back to being a villain, and once again was from the Soviet Union, facing off against Sho Kosugi, who played Ken Tani.
Tani was a martial artist and special operative in the film, summoned to recover an experimental black ops laser tracking device that was shot down by Soviet forces. Reception was mixed. Yes, even with a new star as the villain of the film. But hey, the director’s cut added an extra ten minutes to the film (reception was still mixed). JCVD is the biggest name in the film, and he was barely even a name.
Still Working on Fame
Following the success of “Bloodsport” and the fact that Jean-Claude Van Damme was suddenly much closer to being a household name, he started getting a lot more options when it came to his roles. Immediately after “Bloodsport” ended up a winner at the box office, Cannon Films offered him three different roles to choose from. They were the lead spots in “Delta Force 2,” “American Ninja 3,” and “Cyborg.”
He went with the final option. “Cyborg” was a cyberpunk martial arts film with Albert Pyun attached as director. The film was released in 1989, and while it was a moderate box office success, it was nothing compared to “Bloodsport.” It spawned a pair of sequels, but Van Damme didn’t appear in either of them. It turns out he was going to be a lot busier than he had planned.
Sticking With Cannon Films
Once again, Van Damme became part of a movie from studio Cannon Films, and this one was a little more successful than “Cyborg.” It was called “Kickboxer,” and it ended up being HIGHLY successful, earning fifty million big ones on a budget of only three million. Van Damme stars as Kurt “The White Warrior” Sloan. No, really.
After his brother is brutalized in a fight in Thailand, Kurt searches for a trainer to help him defeat the man who paralyzed his brother. This film also started the "Kickboxer" franchise, which spans a whopping eight films. JCVD didn’t come back to star in any of the films, but he did reappear in the three latest as a different character – a trainer. Yes, it’s a little odd, but it’s not like it’s that strange.
Broadening His Appeal
Van Damme wanted to prove that he could bring more to the table than high-flying kicks. In 1990, he set out to do it, starring in “Death Warrant” as well as “Lionheart.” Director Sheldon Lettich, who had co-written “Bloodsport,” said that it was the first movie to show Jean-Claude Van Damme was more than just a martial artist who would disappear in a few years.
“Lionheart” was also...famous...for being the first movie in which Van Damme is shot from behind while not wearing any pants. It was a big moment for lots of people in the audience. After that, shots of Van Damme’s backside, whether clothed or unclothed, sort of became a trademark for him. There’s only so long he could do it, so he might as well flaunt it when he can.
A Hard Hit
The Muscles from Brussels kept working hard. In 1991, he starred as both of the main characters in “Double Impact,” twin brothers Alex and Chad Wagner. The brothers were estranged, both trying to avenge the deaths of their parents. While it got some mixed reviews upon its release, some critics said that the movie delivered what was promised and that it would end up being a hit.
That latter category proved to be correct, and the film grossed almost twenty-four million in the first four weeks. It went on to make almost thirty million all told. Even nowadays critics call it a fun action film with good comedic moments, and they praise Jean-Claude for being able to portray two distinct characters. Jean-Claude was moving up to bigger and better things.
Blockbuster Smash
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s star was rising. In 1992, he starred alongside fellow martial artist Dolph Lundgren in the sci-fi action picture “Universal Soldier,” directed by Roland Emmerich. The two play as U.S. soldiers sent to secure a village from the North Vietnamese forces, but things go poorly and both men end up dead. They are later reanimated in a secret army project and sent on a mission.
The movie was a resounding success, making a total of a hundred and two million dollars worldwide on a twenty-three million dollar budget. While it was only a moderate success in the United States, it was a smash in other countries. It was the final film that used the multichannel surround-sound format Cinema Digital Sound. It actually got pretty poor reviews, with many just calling it a “Terminator 2” clone.
A Contest at Cannes
At the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, both of whom were present for “Universal Soldier,” got involved in a verbal altercation that almost turned physical. The men pushed each other and then were quickly separated.
Many rumors went flying about the nature of the altercation, but Lundgren would eventually confirm (on his website many years later) that the event was a publicity stunt in order to promote the film. Seeing as how both men were championship martial artists, the fact that they only managed to shove each other a little bit was a big hint to a lot of people that it wasn’t a real fight. Based on the box office receipts their little act might have been successful.
More Roles, More Success
Now fully established as an actor one could rely on in the action genre at the very least, Van Damme was able to look for the projects that interested him the most. He was considered to play the role of the villain Simon Phoenix in “Demolition Man,” and he was also briefly considered to play the role of Michael Cheritto in “Heat.”
He made a short cameo in the 1993 film “Last Action Hero,” and also starred in “Nowhere to Run.” This film was the first in a three-picture deal from Columbia Pictures, earning himself a cool three-point-five million dollars for his work. Columbia was pleased with the film “Nowhere to Run,” calling it a film that his audience would appreciate, but also the kind of thing that fans of other genres would be able to enjoy as well.
An American First
The man could not be stopped. In 1994, Van Damme starred in the John Woo film “Hard Target.” It was the first American film by the acclaimed director. The movie is an adaptation of the famous Richard Connell short story from 1924 “The Most Dangerous Game.”
Van Damme plays a homeless Cajun merchant seaman and former United States Force Recon Marine who gets wrapped up in a group of people who capture homeless men as a form of recreational hunting for rich maniacs. With a budget of around twenty million dollars and a box office of about seventy-five million, the movie was a big success. Well-made technically, the movie struggled with a cliché problem, but many critics found good points to elevate it above the genre it sat in.
His Biggest Earner Yet
Let us tell you about “Timecop.” It’s a movie about a time-traveling cop, and it was released on September 16th, 1994. It was directed by Peter Hyams and adapted from a comic series of the same name. The movie exploded at the box office at the number one spot, opening at over twenty-two hundred theaters and raking in twelve million dollars in the first weekend.
It was also the top-earning movie in the second week, though with four million dollars fewer. Overall, it totaled a worldwide gross of about a hundred and one million dollars, the highest-grossing movie in Van Damme’s filmography in which he played a leading role, and his second to hit the $100 million mark after “Universal Soldier.” Critics weren’t as kind, with one even saying it was easier to understand Van Damme’s accent than the plot.
Losing a Fight
Jean-Claude Van Damme was at the top of his game. It was hit after hit for this star, but if there’s one thing that is destined to crater a star’s career, it’s the dreaded video game movie. Even Van Damme fell prey to its siren song. The film was 1994's “Street Fighter,” written and directed by Steven E. de Souza for Universal, and based on the video game series of the same name.
While the film was a commercial success – making three times its production cost at the box office – critics slammed the film, and movie fans nowadays recognize it for the mistake it was, though it wasn’t without its good points. Chief among them was Raul Julia playing baddie General M. Bison, who was aware he was dying and decided to go out with a bang.
Taking the Fight to the Streets
In the “Street Fighter” film, Jean-Claude Van Damme plays Colonel Guile, who is focused on taking down the villainous General Bison, a military dictator and drug kingpin of Shadaloo City – he’s out to conquer the world using his genetic supersoldiers, and only Guile’s team of elite “Street Fighters” will be able to stop him.
This includes characters from the video game such as Ryu and Ken, Guile’s lieutenant Cammy White, Chinese Chun-Li, the boxer Balrog, and others. Enemies from the games include Zangief, Dee Jay, Vega, Sagat, and Dhalsim. Critics panned the film for poor acting (save the efforts of Julia), the casting of pop star Kylie Minogue as fighter Cammy, the campy writing, and the whiz-bang nature of the effects. Even Van Damme couldn’t save it.
Coming Back Together
Van Damme was able to ride out the detractors from the “Street Fighter” movie with the help of an old friend, director Peter Hyams, who was responsible for “Timecop.” He and Van Damme got together to make “Sudden Death” in 1995, in which Van Damme plays a French Canadian-born firefighter in Pittsburgh who goes through a personal crisis after failing to save a young girl during a fire at her house.
After being removed from active duty, Van Damme’s character, Darren McCord, discovers that several high-level VIPs, including the Vice President of the United States, are being held hostage at game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. As you can imagine, it was chock-full of action, but it performed modestly at the box office and critics didn’t give it much more than a five out of ten.
Taking a Turn as Director
After you’ve been in enough movies, you pretty much know how to direct, right? That’s what Van Damme thought once the calendar rolled over to 1996. He picked up the camera himself for his next movie “The Quest,” in which he also starred. He stayed to his roots, making it a martial arts film set in the early half of the twentieth century, revolving around a mysterious and dangerous tournament.
Sometimes, if something works, you just keep going with it. Roger Moore, James Remar, and Janet Gun also starred. While the film opened at number one at the box office, earning seven million dollars in its first weekend, critics weren’t very kind. Isn’t that always the case with JCVD? They praised Moore’s performance, the production values, and the locations, but there was little else they enjoyed.
The Thing That Will Really Make Him Famous
Sure, a guy can be a star in movies that are making hundreds of millions of dollars, but has he ever been in an episode of “Friends?" Well, in 1996, Van Damme joined that narrow collection of famous faces and names with the two-part episode “The One After the Superbowl.” It was the highest-watched episode of the entire series, getting almost fifty-three million viewers.
Part of the way this was accomplished was by promising different star power, and so Jean-Claude Van Damme showed up to portray himself. Also in the two-parter were Julia Roberts, Brooke Shields, Fred Willard, and Dan Castellaneta. Van Damme was the only one of those famous actors who wasn’t playing a fake character. Instead, he was himself, though clearly not a true representation of himself.
Taking a Risk
The next movie up for the muscle-bound star was the 1996 “Maximum Risk,” the first American film to be directed by Ringo Lam, and the first of several collaborations between the two. The action-thriller also starred Natasha Henstridge. Jean-Claude Van Damme played both the hero, Alain Moreau, as well as the semi-villainous Mikhail Suverov.
The two are twin brothers, which is a surprise to both of them. The film made double its budget at the box office, but once again critics weren’t kind to the film. Still, they had nice things to say about the car chases, eventually placing it in the pile of films marked “decent action movies.” This was, amazingly, the second time that Van Damme starred in an action movie in which he played a pair of identical twins.
The First True Bomb
A lot of the movies that Van Damme had been into at this point might not have been critical darlings, but at least they brought in the money. That line of success came to an end with the 1997 action comedy film “Double Team.” Van Damme stars alongside champion basketball player Dennis Rodman in his first movie role. Of course, the film was a critical bomb, but it also found little success at the box office.
The movie was also nominated for a trio of Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Supporting Actor for Rodman, Worst New Star also for Rodman, and Worst Screen Couple for Rodman and Van Damme. They won all three, and the pair also added a Worst On-Screen Couple from Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. Not all of the responses were bad, but an overwhelming majority of them were.
You Can’t Stop the Muscles
Just because Van Damme had a bona fide failure of a movie on his hands didn’t mean he was going to give up on films. His string of kicks and leaps continued with the movie “Knock Off,” a project that had him working with director Tsui Hark, who also directed Van Damme’s previous failure. The movie wasn’t a total flop, but only just barely squeaked by at the box office, earning forty-four million dollars against a budget of thirty-five million.
However, critics hardly had a kind word to say about the entire eighty-eight minutes of it, calling it a film with a bad plot and bad acting. Words such as “incomprehensible” were thrown around like ninja stars. There was also “incompetent” used at one point. One critic, however, weirdly, called it Van Damme’s best film to date.
Not Shown in the States
Van Damme’s next film, “Legionnaire,” despite being produced by an American company, wasn’t ever released in the United States. It’s set in the nineteen twenties and has Van Damme as an American boxer who fails to throw a fight, as his mobster higher-ups ordered. He flees to join the French Foreign Legion.
The film was originally planned to be a comedic vehicle starring JCVD and one John Candy (or someone of similar stature). The film received middling critical reviews. A franchise was planned that would have had hour-long adventures with Van Damme as a co-executive producer and guest star, going through various adventures set in contemporary times. Box office receipts are a little hard to find, but it seems to have done all right for itself.
More Movies, More Failures
Something had changed. No longer was Jean-Claude Van Damme the box-office draw that he once was. Both of the movies that he starred in in 1999 ended up as stinkers. The first was a sequel, “Universal Soldier: The Return,” which had Van Damme reappear as Luc Deveraux from the first film. It made a little over ten million dollars domestically against a budget between twenty-two and forty-five million dollars.
One of the words that was used to describe the film was “mind-numbing.” The second film was “Inferno.” Incredibly, this film was received even WORSE than the second “Universal Soldier.” Reviews that did show up for the film were scarce and painful. Rotten Tomatoes has zero of five surveyed critics giving the film a positive review. Average audience ratings were three out of ten.
Entering the New Millennium
It would be a long time before Jean-Claude Van Damme would see a film released on the big screen. From the end of 1999 until 2008, every movie he did on the American circuit went directly to video. There were two films that didn’t but they were the French “Narco” from 2004, and the Turkish comedy-drama film “The Exam” (“Sinav” in the original Turkish) from 2006.
He decided to take a little break during 2000, coming back in 2001 with a pair of direct-to-video films, and, amazingly, both of them were movies where he yet again played a pair of characters: in “Replicant,” he was both Edward “The Torch” Garrot and “The Replicant.” There was also “The Order,” a movie that he wrote, in which he played the characters Rudy Cafmeyer and Charles Le Vaillant.
Time to Talk Love
Let’s take a break from his career to talk about the love life of Jean-Claude Van Damme. Like most stars, Van Damme had no problem attracting women to his side, but it seems he did have some difficulty keeping them around. He’s been married five times...but, you might be surprised to know, to only four different women.
The first one was the Venezuelan-born Maria Rodriguez, whom he met long before he was a star – even before he had moved to the States to pursue his acting career. They got married on the 25th of August, 1980, a whole year before Van Damme even decided to drop out of his martial arts career. Two years after they were married, he moved to the States, and from there, things got on rocky ground.
One Down
The first marriage of the Muscles didn’t last too long. We tried to look it up, but we literally couldn’t find whether or not Maria had moved to the States with him. Regardless, their divorce was finalized in 1984. This was still years away from Van Damme’s break in “Bloodsport,” remember, and times proved to be tough.
Still, he was somehow able to attract a woman named Cynthia Derderian, and they got married on the twenty-fourth of August in 1985. This attempt at matrimony didn’t even last as long as the first try – it was dissolved a year later, in 1986. Van Damme was just starting to work his way up the ladder in Hollywood. Thankfully, his next attempt would end up going for a little bit longer.
A Whole Five Years
After he divorced Cynthia Derderian, Jean-Claude Van Damme caught the eye of Gladys Portugues, an ex-bodybuilder, fitness competitor, and actress. You might have seen her in such films as… “Pumping Iron II: The Women” (she played herself), “The Morning After” (she played a bodybuilder), and “It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive,” in which she played a waitress. Wow, those are some bottom-of-the-barrel titles.
As a bodybuilder, she placed in the top ten twice in the Ms. Olympia contest. She was inspired to be a bodybuilder when she saw Rachel McLish on television winning the Ms. Olympia title. She became Mrs. Van Damme (okay, actually Mrs. van Varenberg) on the third of January, 1987, and for a while, it looked like the two were going to go the distance.
Starting a Family
The Van Damme family didn’t take long to grow a little larger. They welcomed their son Kristopher van Varenberg on May 20th, 1987, and suddenly the Muscles from Brussels was the Father from...we didn’t think this far ahead. Funny names aside, it seems as if Jean-Claude took to being a father, since the family didn’t take too long to have number two: in 1990, Gladys gave birth to daughter Bianca Brigitte.
By this point, Jean-Claude had become a much, much bigger name in the public eye and in Hollywood. Obviously, for the family pocketbook, this was a good thing, but Jean-Claude was apparently the kind of person who has been lured by the seedier parts of fame. At the same time Van Damme was starring in the 1992 film “Universal Soldier,” a scandal erupted.
The Woman on the Side
Famous for such roles as “David’s Neighbor” in “Double Trouble” and “Girl with Taj” in “Driving Me Crazy,” actress Darcy LaPier could attract the eye of almost any man in Hollywood. She was on marriage number two, with a man named Ron Rice, (and also still technically married to her first, Larry Ray Robertson – look, it’s complicated) when she and Jean-Claude Van Damme started interacting a little too much.
The affair ended both of their marriages, but they made the most of it and got hitched in 1994 in a ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand. She was able to use this newfound connection to land bigger roles, such as… “Guile’s Date” in “Street Fighter.” Jean-Claude now knew that he was a fatherly kind of guy, so these two wasted no time working on the family tree.
Second Time Around
Unfortunately, Jean-Claude has turned out to be a little less faithful than one might have hoped. During the filming of “Street Fighter,” and while Darcy was pregnant with her second child and Jean-Claude’s third, Van Damme decided to go hopping around with none other than his co-star in the movie, Kylie Minogue. Jean-Claude, you dog!
This story was not made public until almost twenty years later in 2012, when Van Damme publicly admitted it – not even Darcy had been told. Their son, Nicholas van Varenberg, was born on October 10th, 1995. Whether it was this kind of thing or something else, these two ended up getting divorced in 1997, at a time when Van Damme’s career was beginning to falter. Could he right the ship?
Getting Remarried
We mentioned five marriages to four different women, so which one of these lucky ladies did Jean-Claude go crawling back to? It was his most successful relationship up to that point, Gladys Portugues, who suddenly got his attention again. They started to spend more time together and realized they should give that crazy thing called love another chance.
They were able to reconcile (read: Jean-Claude apologized well enough) and they got remarried on June 25, 1999. Since then, they’re still married, though they did have a little bit of a problem in 2015. Rumors started popping up that they might be getting another divorce, but they ended up figuring out a way to put their differences aside, and as of this writing are still going strong.
Back to the Movies
Once Van Damme got back in front of the camera, he found it hard to gain a whole lot of attention. The movies he appeared in, such as “Derailed” with his son Kris or “In Hell” alongside pro NFL player Lawrence Taylor, found no love in the review section or at the box office.
In fact, “Derailed” has been pointed to as the very bottom of Van Damme’s career, being called a film that disappoints despite the low expectations one might have going into it. Even later reviews have been unkind to the film, with terms such as “painful to watch” and “the worst visuals you will ever see” appearing. “In Hell” is only slightly better, as something to watch for Van Damme fans and no one else.
Using His Dancing Skills
Van Damme has had plenty of chances to show off his high-flying kicks, his throws, and his incredible ability to do the splits, but he hasn’t been able to do a whole lot of something else he trained for when he was a kid: Dancing. He would, however, have a chance to hit the floor as part of the music video “Kiss My Eyes” by French record producer, DJ, and remixer Bob Sinclair in 2003.
In the music video, Van Damme and his dancing partner do a bit of ballroom dancing all around a hotel room, eventually falling into bed as they cause more and more destruction. The dancing isn’t all that complicated, but it still looks good. And then JCVD looks around and says “Wow. Lots of Van Damage.” No, really.
Smaller and Smaller Roles
In 2004 the downward trend continued. Van Damme starred in “Wake of Death,” which was originally going to be directed by his friend Ringo Lam, but Lam left the project before too long. In the following years he was in “Second in Command,” directed by Simon Fellows, and “The Hard Corps,” directed by Sheldon Lettich.
He also had a role in the 2004 French film “Narco,” about a narcoleptic whose life is made difficult by his inability to keep a job thanks to his condition. Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself in a minor role, appearing when one character summons the ultimate “karate man” to act as his conscience. Kind of a goofy role for Van Damme to play, but it seems like it would be fun. Unfortunately, the film made just barely half its budget back at the box office.
A New Kind of Project
Clearly, Van Damme needed to do something big to correct this skid. He chose the project “JCVD,” which has him playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself. The movie actually describes the character as a “down and out action star whose family and career are crumbling around him.” We wouldn’t go so far as to say JCVD’s life was “crumbling,” but nobody could disagree that it hadn’t ever been in a better situation.
This action star is caught in the middle of a post office heist in his hometown of Brussels, Belgium. Directed by Mabrouk el Mechri, the film had a budget of only twelve million dollars...but it didn’t even earn that much. In fact, it was a certified box-office flop, gaining a mere two-point-three million dollars. However, it was only on a limited release, so the producers didn’t expect it to break the bank.
A Critical Darling
Despite “JCVD” not earning a whole lot of money, it was a surprising hit with the critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of eighty-four percent after over a hundred reviews, making one of only four Van Damme films to be certified fresh on the website – the other three are “The Expendables 2,” “Enemies Closer,” and “Kung Fu Panda 2.”
Not what you would expect, right? There were several who said Van Damme deserved an Oscar for his work, though he was beaten by the departed Heath Ledger’s turn as the Joker. Hard to top that. Roger Ebert, who gave the film two and a half stars, said the film savages Van Damme, and the actor himself says far more unkind things about himself than any critic ever has.
The Guy Has Some Skills
While “JCVD” has plenty of the standard action movie fare, there is one scene in particular that has gained notable press. Something like two-thirds of the way into the movie, Van Damme and the camera, which is focused on him, is lifted about the set, and he then performs a single-take, unbroken, six-minute monologue. He breaks the fourth wall, addressing himself, or the audience, or God, or all three, getting emotional but staying cryptic in a way that only a Van Damme can.
He monologues about his career, and his failed marriages, and he admits that he’s afraid of dying in something as absurd as a failed heist at a post office. For many who thought Van Damme was nothing more than muscles, it was quite a surprise to see him deliver such a powerful moment.
Oh, Yeah, the Substance Problem
We bet you probably saw this one coming, but Jean-Claude Van Damme had a little bit of a substance problem during the nineties. It was thanks to the stress of constant training, filming, and promoting his movies that led him to illicit substances – at its height, he was spending ten thousand dollars a week on the dangerous habit.
He said he was consuming up to ten grams a day by 1996. We’ll assume that’s a lot. He was caught driving while under the influence in 1999. He checked himself in for rehabilitation, but attempts were unsuccessful. He went back to the thing that had kept him sane for so long: exercise. As far as we can tell, his attempts at going cold turkey seem to have worked.
A Man of Two Moods
Substances weren't the only things that Van Damme was struggling with during the later years of the twentieth century. In 1998 he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He discussed it a little bit in 2011, on the show “Behind Closed Doors” from Britain. He said that he’d always been a love-or-hate kind of guy – mostly discussing how people liked him or didn’t.
He said that he was taking medication, and even talked about what it was like as a kid with the undiagnosed disorder: "When I was young, I was suffering those swing moods. In the morning, the sky was blue [when I was] going to school, and to me, the sky was black. I was so sad." We can only imagine what it was like trying to make it as an actor with that on your shoulders.
Did He Really Win All Those Fights?
Unexpectedly, Van Damme was the center of a lawsuit against Frank Dux, the same man who was the supposed inspiration for Van Damme’s first hit “Bloodsport.” The lawsuit mostly discussed the co-writing and consulting work that Dux did on the film, but it also said that Van Damme had been lying about his fighting record.
It said that Dux had tutored Van Damme in fighting before the movie and that until that point, Van Damme didn’t have any skill. This was laughed out of the court, mostly since there were verifiable records that point to Van Damme’s skill and expertise in the ring. After all, there were a lot of people who probably remember Van Damme kicking them in the head. And video and pictures and trophies and stuff. And he can do the splits on some chairs. You don’t lie about that.
Juicy, Juicy Celebrity Controversy
As a hotheaded action star making the Hollywood circuit, of course, Van Damme was going to find himself up against some of the other tough guys in the industry. While the fight he had with Lundgren was fake, the beef he had with notorious actor Steven Seagal was not. At a party at Sylvester Stallone’s house in 1997, Steven Seagal kept claiming he could, quote, kick Van Damme’s backside.
Seagal has plenty of martial arts training and experience, but Van Damme was a bona fide champ in his physical prime. Van Damme actually tracked Seagal down at a nightclub and offered to fight him, but Seagal backed off. As Stallone put it, Van Damme was clearly far too strong for the other actor, and Seagal didn’t want to get ruined by him.
The Chuck Zito Incident
If you have four different wives, eventually one or more of them are going to attract other guys. Thus did a bodyguard and stuntman named Chuck Zito start pursuing Darcy LaPier while she and Van Damme were estranged. Zito was unhappy about LaPier claiming in a divorce action that Van Damme had been aggressive toward her. A report came out that Van Damme had punched Zito in a strip club in Manhattan in February of 1998.
There was a lot of he-said she-said, with Zito claiming he punched Van Damme several times and suffered a broken hand as a result. Van Damme, for the record, denied being struck by Zito a few days after the incident, also denying that he had challenged Zito to a fight. We’re not about to say who is telling the truth, but lying about Van Damme seems like a bad tactic.
Under Fire From Human Rights Watch
Sure, Van Damme has gotten into a little scrap with other members of Hollywood once or twice, but that doesn’t mean he’s done anything REALLY bad, right? Don’t worry, he hasn’t – as far as we know – but he still got dinged by a human rights group for partying with the Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov on the president’s birthday.
At the time, Chechnya was a member of the Russian Federation, and Van Damme and some of the other famous names were on the guest list (which also included, among others, Seal and Hilary Swank). There had been human rights abuses under Kadyrov that had the public eye turned toward him. Human Rights Watch said that it was irresponsible for celebs to attend such an event when such things were going on in the nation.
Back to the Sequels
Van Damme’s performance in “JCVD” was named the second-best of the year in “Time Magazine,” after only Heath Ledger, and it seems like things might be changing for the aging star. However, he went right back to his old tricks, teaming up again with fellow martial artist Dolph Lundgren for a sequel to their first film together.
It was called “Universal Soldier: Regeneration,” and though it was released in theaters in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, it was a direct-to-video option in the States. Still, compared to a lot of the other movies, Van Damme had been pumping out at the time – and especially since it was a DVD sequel of an old action flick – it got relatively good reviews. Maybe things were trending upward for Jean-Claude.
Avoiding the Expendables
We couldn’t tell you if you put a firearm to our heads, but for some reason, Jean-Claude Van Damme turned down a role in the action extravaganza “The Expendables” in 2010. A schlocky action flick full of fights? The role was practically made for him! Still, turn it down he did, and instead, the role went to his friend Dolph Lundgren.
Maybe he was a little too busy directing himself in the film “Full Love,” which he also wrote and produced. That is a lot of work, to be fair. However, despite all the work that has gone into it, the film still hasn’t been released. It’s now known as “Frenchy,” after re-edits and re-shoots. We know the feeling of not wanting your hard work to go to waste, but this one might be a lost cause.
Back in the Ring...Maybe
In 2011, Van Damme knew he needed a change. Sure, he voiced a character in “Kung Fu Panda 2” and co-starred with Scott Adkins in “Assassination Games,” but there needed to be something else. How about a reality show? We already mentioned it, but it’s called “Behind Closed Doors.” It focuses on his life and family, his personal troubles, and – this was the big draw of the show – a fight that he was planning with Olympic gold medalist boxer Somluck Kamsing.
It was the show’s focal point, but despite the show coming out in 2011, the fight has still not occurred. It’s been repeatedly postponed, and the main difficulty is usually booking a venue. Many critics are convinced that the fight will never occur. It’s been more than ten years since the fight was first hyped.
He Was Just Waiting for the Sequel
Is it too early to crown Van Damme the king of the sequel? He made his entrance into the Expendables franchise as the villain of the second movie, and the movie grossed an incredible three hundred and ten million dollars worldwide. An incredible amount of money, but both of the “Kung Fu Panda” movies he helped voice have done better.
2012 also saw Van Damme star in “Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.” Did this sequel do as well as the other one he was in? It, too, co-starred Dolph Lundgren. No, of course not. Against a budget of eight million, this film made only one and a half million. Oddly, the reviews weren’t terrible – usually middle of the pack, with critics pointing at the excessive violence as a sticking point.
The Good Old Endorsement
What are some other ways for an aging film star to earn a living? How about sitting in front of a camera and pretending to like something for a ton of money? He could do worse. Van Damme became, at least for a short time, the face of Coors Light beer. The ads had him appear on a snow-covered mountain wearing a sleeveless denim jacket.
He was also the spokesperson for the washing powder Dash. That was just the beginning – over the years, Van Damme has also repped Reebok Pump sneakers, Meath music, Adidas, and more. He also has his own merch available for purchase, in case YOU feel like repping HIM.
Everybody Has a Hero
We bet there are plenty of kids or adults around the world who would call Van Damme their hero, but what about him? Who does he turn to when he wants to see action? The answer isn’t an expected one: none other than Charlie Chaplin.
While Chaplin isn’t exactly what you would call an action movie star, the man was able to blend stunts, comedy, and drama into the perfect little package. We guess if you’re looking for a hero while you’re trying to get into acting, one of the very best in the history of filmmaking is going to be hard to beat. Plus, he isn’t even the only action star who calls Chaplin an inspiration: Jackie Chan says that the silent film star was a key influence.
A Particular Kind of Nonsense
Jean-Claude Van Damme is quite smart. He’s a master of several forms of martial arts, he can act, he can dance, and he speaks at least three languages. Still, he’s famous for blurting out some pretty strange stuff during interviews...like how cookies have no soul. We guess he’s right, but we also wonder why it had to be said.
He’s said strange things about his personal well-being, spirituality, the environment, women, dogs, and his ability to crack walnuts with his buttocks. He’s gone on to explain that he wants to tell young people some hard-learned facts, but his native French and the constraints of interviews (and sometimes jet lag) make it hard for him to say anything that is coherent. In fact, his movie “JCVD” sought to address the issue of his public image head-on.
A Statue About to Strike
2012 was a big year for the Muscles from Brussels since that same city unveiled a statue of Van Damme, life-size and in a fighting pose without a shirt on. Not everybody gets a statue of themselves put up in their hometown, so Van Damme was thrilled to be in attendance (along with plenty of other people) when it was unveiled.
He told reporters that he was a kid from the streets with a dream, and anybody who sees the statue should know they can’t give up on their dreams. “...when people come by here, it is not Jean-Claude van Damme but it's a guy from the street who believed in something. I want the statue to represent that."
The Viral Stunt
Van Damme was poised for a comeback. But what was the best way to grab the public’s attention? Well, how about an epic viral stunt that would set the internet ablaze? The year was 2013, and the brand that gave Van Damme a bunch of money was Volvo Trucks. A pair of golden trucks, driving backward, suspend Van Damme between them. Enya’s biggest song plays and the trucks separate, lowering the actor into a split.
It absolutely blew up, and by now the YouTube clip of the ad has been viewed more than a hundred million times, to say nothing of the reposts. It was a way to demonstrate the Volvo dynamic steering function, and it was accomplished in one single, glorious, golden take. And don’t worry – Van Damme did have a safety harness on.
Consistent Work
Despite the sudden surge in popularity thanks to that memorable ad for Volvo trucks, Van Damme wasn’t immediately catapulted back into the upper echelon of Hollywood stars. That year he was cast in the comedy “Welcome to the Jungle,” a film about an office team that goes on a team-building seminar on a tropical island that, assuredly, goes awry. He also played the main villain of the film “Enemies Closer,” directed by his old friend Peter Hyams.
In 2014, he played one of the leads in the film “Swelter,” which has him as a member of a gang of thieves chasing after the hero, an old member of the gang who doesn’t remember his misdeeds. It was a strange job for Van Damme since he was neither the lead hero nor the main villain. The movie wasn’t great. Still, critics had good things to say about his performance.
Getting Closer to Now
In 2015, Van Damme starred in the action thriller “Pound of Flesh,” directed by Ernie Barbarash. Van Damme’s character was planning on donating his kidney to his dying niece, only to have it stolen from him in an act of organ theft. Good thing he’s a former black-ops agent.
The movie proceeds from there in classic action fashion. Unfortunately, the critical reviews and viewer scores also called it the same kind of fare – the film holds steady at a little under 20% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it has a weighted average score of 41/100 based on a mere five critics. Par for the course when it comes to action projects that Van Damme was starring in.
Leading a Series
2016 saw Van Damme return to his voice role of Master Croc in “Kung Fu Panda 3,” as well as appearing in the next installment of the Kickboxer franchise. He was also named the lead in the Amazon Studios streaming television series “Jean-Claude Van Johnson.” The idea of the show is that he’s playing himself, but that all this time his films and life have just been a cover story – he’s actually been a secret agent this whole time.
He comes out of retirement to track down a drug lord, quickly discovering that there’s a much more dangerous foe in the mix. Gags included being thrown into situations from his movies that others find realistic, such as enemies only attacking one at a time, or meeting a version of himself from the future.
For the Completionist
The man’s been in a whole lot of movies in the last few years, but not a lot of them have gotten a whole lot of acclaim. He starred in “Kill ‘Em All” in 2017, directed by Peter Malota. 2018 had him return to the reboot Kickboxer franchise, and he also acted in “Black Water,” which was his fifth collaboration with actor Dolph Lundgren, but only the first time they appeared on-screen as allies.
He also appeared in "The Bouncer” in the same year. In 2019 we could see him in “We Die Young.” In 2021 he was in “The Last Mercenary,” and then in 2022 he once again used his voice, this time as the character Jean-Clawed in the animated film “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”
A Few More Voice Credits
There’s one piece of work that Van Damme has done that you have a little bit higher chance of having seen, and that was when he voiced a couple of characters in the stop-motion comedy show “Robot Chicken.” He appeared in a 2009 episode, voicing not only a comical version of himself but also Dracula and even Rhett Butler.
This was stunt casting for a reboot of “Gone With the Wind” called “Frankly My Dear, I Don’t Give a Van Damme.” Cynthia Rothrock does the voice of Scarlett O’Hara and most of the “trailer” for the movie is a huge fight that the two have in the foyer of their huge southern mansion.
A Big Fan of Music
He’s been in tons of movies and even some shows, but it seems that Van Damme doesn’t mind acting in music videos, either. We’ve already discussed the fun video for “Kiss My Eyes,” but there are a bunch of other notable examples. The first time he was there for the music was in the 1992 song from Body Count called “Body Count’s in the House.”
Two years later, he was in “Time Won’t Let Me” by The Smithereens and “Straight to My Feet” by MC Hammer (which also featured Deion Sanders). He showed up in a Chage and Aska video from 1995, a Megadeth video from 1999, and a handful more from the new millennium, including the recent “Ultrarêve” from the French pop rock musical duo AaRON in 2020.
Leaving a Legacy
We’ve already talked about how Jean-Claude Van Damme’s breakout hit “Bloodsport” was the inspiration behind the video game “Mortal Kombat.” We also covered that one of the characters in the series, Johnny Cage, was directly inspired by Van Damme’s character, but that’s not the only video game in which he appears. Sort of.
You wouldn’t think that a guy like this action star would show up in the Donkey Kong series of games, but on the German version of the Donkey Kong 64 website, it states that Donkey Kong’s greatest hero is “Jean-Claude Van Kong,” a clear reference to the star. We don’t know why it makes so much sense for Donkey Kong to love a clear expy of Van Damme, but it does. Can Kong do the splits? We don’t think we’ve ever seen it happen.
A Few More Tidbits of Trivia
What else is there to say about this legendary Hollywood figure? How about the fact that renowned UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre was originally inspired by Van Damme to get into fighting, and then he found he was being asked to fight against him in the film “Kickboxer: Vengeance.”
St-Pierre called it a dream come true. It turns out that Van Damme is also a dog fan, and in October of 2020 he adopted a three-month-old chihuahua, in doing so saving her from euthanasia. Incredibly, this was actually due to a legal battle between Norway and Bulgaria – the dog, Raya, had traveled to Norway under a false visa – the Bulgarians filled out the paperwork wrong. Van Damme got involved and saved the pet from euthanasia before allowing her to be rehomed in her native Bulgaria.
That’s Quite the Ad
As one of Hollywood’s classic tough guys from the golden age of action movies, seeing Van Damme show up will have you on your best behavior. So it was in a TV advertisement featuring Van Damme from the company Ultra Tune, which is an Australian automotive servicing and roadside assistance company.
In the ad, two women are in an empty car park when they are confronted by a gang of youths in a threatening manner. Before things go any further south, Van Damme appears to defend the women. Immediately the mood lightens, and everybody there ends up having a good time as they take pictures of the star. While this spot didn’t raise any eyebrows, the series was controversial in the way it portrayed women, with the creators explicitly saying they were angling for the male audience.
How Are the Kids Doing?
By now all of the Van Damme kids have started their own careers. Kristopher goes by Kris Van Damme, which is an A-plus movie star name, and his first movie role came at only five years old when he was “Young Luc Deveraux” in “Universal Soldier.” His first true role came in 2002, in the movie “Derailed,” which is bad.
His sister Bianca’s first goal was to be an Olympic skater, and she was quite close to achieving that dream until depression and a bad crash forced her to hang up her skates. She’s now an actress and model and spends her free time writing poetry. Nicholas Van Varenberg has also been in a few movies, such as “Darkness of Man,” “Kill em All 2,” and “Kickboxer: Retaliation” with his father.
Still Kicking
Sure, Jean-Claude Van Damme might not be in his heyday anymore, but that doesn’t mean he has to give it all up. There’s always a chance he could come out with some incredible film or other projects that will send critics spinning and the box office rattling. He’s proven he has the acting chops to deliver some really emotional scenes, and it’s not like he doesn’t have some physical gifts, too.
He may never be up there with the likes of Christian Bale or Leonardo DiCaprio – or even the action greats like Schwarzenegger – but he’ll always have a special place in our hearts for making some fun, goofy, and memorable action movies. Plus, he’s an inspiration to guys all over the world – with enough time and practice, maybe we can do the splits too.