Jean-Claude Van Damme is one of the most iconic and recognizable action movie stars, a true legend of cinema. An actor who has inspired many contemporary action stars. He started martial arts in his native Brussels. Since then, Jean-Claude Van Damme has appeared in almost 60 films throughout his career, and even sat in the director’s chair several times, directing two films. He is not just a talented actor and athlete, but also a very interesting person. We offer you the most interesting facts that you might not know about Jean-Claude Van Damme.
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In Belgium Has Established A Life-Size Monument To Him.
Jean-Claude Van Damme has done many wonderful things in his life. For example, he received the title “Mr. Bodybuilder of Belgium”. He achieved success beyond the dreams of many Belgians, earning respect in Hollywood with films such as Universal Soldier, Time Patrol, Kickboxer, Double Impact and The Expendables. Simply put, Jean-Claude Van Damme made Belgium proud of his compatriot. And on October 21, 2012, the country honored its hero by honoring him with a life-size bronze statue in his hometown of Brussels. Well, the figure of Jean-Claude Van Damme is of great importance for cinema, but for the Belgians he is even more important. During the grand opening of the statue, he said in an interview: “I know that I am returning some debt, but I want this debt to be returned to the dream. So that when people pass by, they see not just Jean-Claude Van Damme, but an ordinary guy from the street who had faith in himself. I want the monument to embody just that.” After such words, we can safely say that the actor deserved this statue, as just a guy who, despite success, never forgot about his roots. It is safe to say that Belgium will no longer have a second Van Damme.
Chuck Norris Got Him Two Jobs.
In the early 80s, Jean-Claude Van Damme had just moved to Hollywood to make a name for himself. He immediately began to learn English, and during this time he worked on various small part-time jobs: a flooring installer, a pizza delivery man, a taxi driver, a limousine driver and a waiter. Simply put, he did everything possible to pay the bills and somehow stay afloat in a foreign country. Then he could hardly imagine that he would soon become a sparring partner of the famous Chuck Norris, who not only supported the Belgian guy, but helped him in two main directions. Chuck Norris offered the ambitious Van Damme a job at his bar in Newport Beach and pushed him into a cameo role in one of his action films, Missing in Action. Although Van Damme played a nameless soldier, it is likely that this is where he was noticed and invited to a role in the low-budget film No Retreat, No Surrender, in which he played the Russian karateka Ivan. The patronage of Chuck Norris was definitely an important link for Van Damme in climbing to the top of his career.
Closed The Role In The Film “Bloodsport”
Van Damme was worth a lot of effort to get a role in the film “Bloodsport”. The actor literally broke into the office of the famous producer Menahem Golan and persuaded him – showing his famous 360-degree “ushiro-mawashi” signature blow – to give him the role. The film immediately made Jean-Claude Van Damme a star. But the actor had an unpleasant episode associated with this role. The famous martial artist Frank Dukes, whose biography formed the basis of the plot of the film, sued Van Damme. Dukes claimed that he was promised $100,000 and 2% of the total profits, and accused the actor of fraud, demanding compensation for moral damages. Luckily for Van Damme, all evidence against him was lost in the earthquake.
Suffered From Bipolar Disorder
It may come as a surprise to many that a man like Jean-Claude Van Damme had a serious mental disorder, commonly known as bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness. However, you yourself could observe this disorder in an actor during an interview, when his mood changed dramatically, there were outbursts of anger and hyperactivity. The actor was diagnosed in 1998 and prescribed sodium valproate, which Van Damme himself called “ordinary salt.” Van Damme later admitted to experiencing depression as a teenager. “When I was little, children in Belgium were not diagnosed with manic-depressive illness. It was believed that the child had a quarrelsome character, that he was poorly brought up. As a child, I was saved by training in which I let off steam. But a few days without training – and I fell apart. Noticing a pattern, my father hung a punching bag in the attic so that I could practice at home … ”. Mental illness coincided with the actor’s cocaine addiction, which led to a suicide attempt. Only after that, Jean-Claude Van Damme was admitted to the clinic and underwent treatment.
Study Ballet For 5 Years
Amazing splits and fighting techniques made Van Damme famous. And how does he do all this? Is this the result of attending various martial arts courses? Not at all. Ballet helped him with this. From the age of 16, Jean-Claude Van Damme began attending a ballet school, where he studied for five years. Moreover, he is grateful to ballet for his incredible flexibility and retained tons of respect for this difficult craft: “Ballet is an art, but at the same time one of the most difficult sports. If you can survive ballet training, then training in any other sport is no longer possible for you. So the next time you think of playing a prank on someone who does ballet, remember that your favorite action hero has also mastered the art.RELATED:
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18 – 1- 0
Everyone knows that for some time Jean-Claude Van Damme was professionally engaged in kickboxing, but few people know exactly what peaks he reached in this. Let me be clear: not only did he end his career with 18 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, but all of his wins ended in knockouts. Is this still not enough? Then we add that he never hesitated before a knockout. What’s more, 16 of his 18 wins came in the first round, usually within one minute. As for the only defeat, Van Damme lost only because he was disqualified. Within five years of professional wrestling, he attracted the attention of the publisher and editor of a karate magazine, Mart Anderson, as well as Gert Lemmers, a multiple European champion. Both called him one of the most promising athletes, showing great promise. However, he dropped out in 1982 with a phenomenal 18-1-0 record, beating stars like Sherman Bergman and Michael J. Heming.
Van Damme’s numerous titles include: European Karate and Kickboxing Champion in 1979 and Hollywood’s Sexiest Legs in 1997.
The actor claims that he learned English just by watching The Flintstones animated series for hours. But this is not the only language that was given to Van Damme with ease. In addition to his native Flemish, he also speaks French, Spanish and German.
The actor was married five times. Moreover, in his mistresses were not only famous models and representatives of show business, but also the Princess of Monaco herself – Stephanie.
Jean-Claude Van Damme refused the role in the first part of The Expendables only because Stallone could not explain the nature of the character to him, but only promised a large fee. But, by the second part, Stallone was still able to gather his thoughts and “The Expendables 2” became Van Damme’s most successful projects in recent times.
And, speaking of Jean-Claude Van Damme, we just can’t help but remember, in the end, the wonderful Volvo Trucks commercial, in which Van Damme sat on a split between two trucks. 35 million views in one week – that’s the success of the Volvo actor.