Jean-Claude Van Damme

After talking about Sylvester and Schwarzy and not to be jealous, I have to tell you about Jean-Claude Van Damme; o)

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Jean-Claude Van Damme, born Jean-Claude Van Varenberg on October 18, 1960 in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, municipality of Brussels, is an actor, director, film producer and Belgian martial artist.

After intensively learning martial arts from the age of ten, Van Damme knows the national success in Belgium as a martial arts fighter and bodybuilder, winning the title of "Mr. Belgium" in bodybuilding.

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In 1982, he emigrated to the United States to pursue a film career and was successful with Bloodsport in 1988 which, for a budget of one and a half million dollars, brought sixty-five to the world. He reached box office heights, including Universal Soldier in 1992 and Timecop in 1994, which together earn over two hundred million dollars in revenue and make him one of the biggest stars in action movies. of the 1990s.
Jean-Claude Van Damme is often referred to by his simple initials JCVD or, in the United States, as "The Muscles from Brussels".

History

Jean-Claude Van Varenberg was born on October 18, 1960 in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium. He is the son of Eugène and Éliana Van Varenberg.

He started martial arts at the age of ten in a karate school. His fighting style consists of Shotokan karate and kickboxing. He manages to get his black belt in karate. He then goes into bodybuilding to better build his physique, which will later earn him the title of Mr. Belgium in bodybuilding.

At the age of sixteen, he dropped the classical dance he had practiced for five years. According to him, classical dance is an art, but it is also one of the most difficult sports. If you can survive a ballet training, you can survive the training of any other sport.

In 1982, with three thousand dollars in his pocket and without knowledge of English, which he admits having subsequently learned while watching The Flintstones, Jean-Claude Van Varenberg leaves for Los Angeles to conquer Hollywood where he is confronted the difficulty of drilling. For many years, he went on odd jobs, as a pizza delivery man or carpenter, but also a personal trainer and limousine driver; this last job allows him to meet people.

During this period, he met Chuck Norris and Lou Ferrigno, and landed some roles in the cinema. He made a brief appearance, in the role of a homosexual karateka, in Monaco Forever, an unfinished film that will be distributed only several years later, once Van Damme became famous. In The Red Tiger, he gets his first important role in playing the role of the villain, a Russian karateka. It was on this occasion that Jean-Claude Van Varenberg changed his name to Van Damme.

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He later plays in The Absolute Weapon, playing the role of the wicked again.

He is then hired to lend his silhouette to the Predator in the film of the same name, but leaves the team of this production the following days.

A few months later, he provokes the meeting that will launch his career by going to meet the producer Menahem Golan at the exit of a restaurant and giving him a demonstration of martial arts on the parking area. Menahem Golan offers him to play in Bloodsport which will be an international success and will give birth to a saga without Van Damme.

In 1988, Jean-Claude Van Damme played in Albert Pyun's Cyborg and, in 1989, in Mark DiSalle's Kickboxer. Then came Lionheart and Death warrant in 1990.

His films have all brought in a lot of box office money, so he's working with Sheldon Lettich again with more money. For Double Impact, we have the right to a double Van Damme; the public is at the rendezvous and the film is a success.

Mario Kassar signs with him for the 1992 Universal Soldier movie, starring Dolph Lundgren. Van Damme receives his first million, for a budget of $ 23 million; the film will bring five times more worldwide and becomes at the time its greatest success at the box office.

The stamps of the actor soar, Nowhere To Run in 1993, my favorite film of Van Damme, who walks particularly in Europe, with a million spectators in France, but fans will appreciate less this new genre, showing a Van Damme more dramatic and abandoning the martial arts. He starred with Hard Target in 1993, which will be the first American film of the Chinese director, becoming a springboard for other Asian filmmakers wanting to break into the United States, and renew the genre with Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark.

The action is there, but John Woo is forced by the producers to cut the editing twenty minutes of the film, deemed too violent for the classification R, allowing minors under 17 years to see the film. The film knows a relative success. Next is Timecop, a science fiction film based on time travel, which in 1994 was its greatest success in the United States.

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The actor is then at the height of his glory, not suffering any failure. He becomes one of the most popular and best-paid martial arts actors in the world, with an $ 8 million stamp for Street Fighter: The Ultimate Fight in 1994, the film came down by critics and critics. fans of the video game, however the success is there.

Drug

Van Damme then plunged into drugs, and admitted to having refused an offer of a series of three films with a stamp of 12 million dollars per film from Universal Studios. He remained on a blacklist at that time, but in the meantime he had signed for Sudden Death, which was released in late 1995, will be worth his first disappointment, the film only bringing in 64 million worldwide for a budget of 35 million.

Thinking he could come back with a project he has had in mind for years and which is close to his heart, he directed in 1996 his first film, The Great Tournament, which he is also a screenwriter, producer and actor, but the film does not win the expected success. It turns the same year Maximum risk, a semi-success, and chained Double Team of Tsui Hark in 1997, which turns out a bitter failure.

His drug consumption increased in 1998, he managed somehow to turn in a second state trap in Hong Kong, with Tsui Hark who takes advantage of his condition to humiliate him in revenge for Double Team by not filming him to its advantage. The film is released the same year as Legionnaire; these two films are failures.

Universal Soldier: The Absolute Combat, released in 1999, is a fiasco. Van Damme pauses and takes care of his addictions, he is diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

In 2001, he returned in full form with Replicant Ringo Lam, which comes out directly on DVD despite the untouched popularity of the actor in Europe. But, when promoting the film in France, he is more noticeable for his behavior than for the film itself. The film is a disaster, with only 100,000 admissions in theaters.

In July 2001, he launched his line of clothing, Damage7, sold only at Harrods in London.
Starting in the 2000s, Van Damme appeared in a large number of "direct to video" films of varying interest: The Order in 2001, Point d'impact in 2002; he is still shooting with Ringo Lam, in 2003, in In Hell which will be his biggest success in leasing in the United States; Wake Of Death in 2004, Ultimate Threat in 2006, The Hard Corps in 2006, Until Death in 2007 and The Shepherd in 2008; Universal Soldier Regeneration in 2009, Assassination Games in 2011, Six Bullets in 2012, Welcome to the Jungle in 2013, Enemies closer in 2013 and Pound of Flesh in 2015.

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==> It's not to make fun of him, but when we watched Enemies closer with my husband we were so laughed that this movie is so bad and so ridiculous. In addition, the way the story is filmed is really special. At one point, he has a big light in his face and he looks like a madman. As we say in Belgium when it's a very bad film, it's a big turnip! I invite you to watch it, unique experience and guaranteed laughter 😂

Back to the cinema

Jean-Claude Van Damme returns to French cinemas with JCVD in 2008. The film has a limited release in the United States, however it receives very positive reviews from the Los Angeles Times.

The story of JCVD, a film halfway between fiction and reality, is based on the career and personality of the actor. Although critics recognize that Van Damme has real talent as an actor, the audience does not follow and JCVD has to be satisfied with approximately 165,000 spectators, which is very little, given the wide television promotion that the film has benefited. Despite an offer of Twentieth Century Fox, Van Damme refuses to appear in the suite of Street Fighter, including to devote to JCVD. Just after, Van Damme self-produced The Eagle Path of which he is the scriptwriter and actor, still hesitating on the choice of the title with Full Love.

In 2011, he is the voice of Master Croc in Kung Fu Panda 2.

In the summer of 2012, for the first time in thirteen years, he found the American theaters with Expendables 2: Special Unit. This gives him the opportunity to shoot a film with Chuck Norris. The film generates more than $ 300 million at the box office, making the film the most profitable of the trilogy.

At the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, he announces that he is leading a television series project in Dubai. This series, Luxury Meets Justice, is produced by Fashion TV, and will consist of two seasons, each featuring a pilot film and 12 episodes.

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In 2016, he redoubles the voice of Master Croc in Kung Fu Panda 3, the film is a huge success.
In 2017, he is the main character in the Amazon series "Jean-Claude Van Johnson".

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Private life

In 1986, Jean-Claude Van Damme married the bodybuilder Gladys Portugues, they have two children: Kristopher and Bianca; they divorced in 1993. He remarried the following year with Darcy Lapier who gave him a son, Nicholas; they divorce in 1997. In 1999, Gladys Portugues and JCVD get married again.

In 2007, he revealed to Empire magazine his connection with singer Kylie Minogue during the shooting of Street Fighter.

Filmography

As for her two colleagues, I will not mention all her films, if you want the full list, she is here:

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075549978/

Here are some of his films that I liked :

• 1990 ː Kickboxer
• 1990 ː Full Contact
• 1990 ː Death Warrant
• 1991 ː Double Impact
• 1992 ː Universal Soldier
• 1993 ː Dead end

My favorite 😍

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• 1994 ː Timecop
• 1994 ː Street Fighter
• 1995 ː Sudden Death
• 1996 ː The Quest
• 1996 ː Maximum Risk
• 1997 ː Double Team
• 1998 ː Trap in Hong Kong
• 1999 ː Universal Soldier: The Return

• 2002 ː Derailed
• 2003 ː In Hell
• 2004 ː Narco
• 2004 ː Wake of Death
• 2006 ː Second in Command
• 2007 ː JCVD
• 2012 ː Dragon Eyes by John Hyams ː Tiano
• 2012 ː Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
• 2012 ː Expendables 2
• 2013 ː Enemies Closer (not a good movie but so funny to watch 😁)
• 2014 ː Duels
• 2014 ː Pound of Flesh

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Maybe a little weird, even bipolar, but in any case, he started from scratch, had to try his luck and despite some disappointment still managed his career.