It’s one of the most thrilling moments in action movie history: shortly before becoming a “sensation” with Bloodsport, the little-known Jean-Claude Van Damme played a human-hunting alien in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 Predator car.
The concert didn’t last long (only a couple of days), and Muscles from Brussels didn’t talk much about it over the years, leaving the conversation to co-star-turned-politician Jesse Ventura. “He went down there and did nothing but complain,” Ventura said. However, Van Damme, now 62, did reflect on the experience of the latest Recall Roles retrospective.
He described defeating director John McTiernan in an audition at Fox Studios, where JCVD performed stunts such as jumps and his trademark splits. And, according to a previous interview, he figured he’d be “in tight bodysuits with half-human, half-animal makeup on my face,” thus coming face to face with the biggest movie star on the planet.
“But then, when the outfit came, I was held back by all these jumps. I was just a guy in a rubber suit. At the time, I thought, “I’m going to be the Predator,” Van Damme said. “It was a nightmare because the gear was made of rubber and it was so hot in Mexico.
People pass out without clothes. And I was there, sweating water. And then they put some kind of tube for the air conditioner. It was too cold. Too hot, too cold.”
While archival footage of Van Damme on set in an orange and pink suit does look ridiculous, the actor insisted that the original design wasn’t all that bad.
“People say the outfit looked like shit. No, it looked great.
The first Predator [suit] looked very poor. But it was very difficult to get inside.”
Van Damme confirmed that he had fallen out with the famous producer of the film:
“Joel Silver and I really had a nasty discussion.” It was then that his co-star Carl Weathers (Rocky) gave advice to the newcomer: “He said, ‘Don’t argue with Joel Silver, or you’ll be burned in the city.’ I mean?” “Just don’t say anything, wait until he fires you. Wait until he fires you.”
Van Damme did not have to wait long. He was soon fired and replaced with stuntman Kevin Peter Hall. He also didn’t have to wait long to become a star in his own right: Bloodsport came out just eight months after Predator.