In the 90s, he was a true legend. An action star, an extremely plastic and charismatic
actor who portrayed heroes and villains equally well, a Hollywood star and just a handsome
guy with the exotic name - Jean-Claude Van Damme. However, at that time few people knew about
his real life and problems. What kind of addiction did the actor struggle
with? For the role in which film did the critics
predict an Oscar for him? And how did the crazy temper almost break
the actor's career? You will learn about all of it and much more
from this video. You are on the "Biographer" channel. Get comfortable and let's get started. Early years and passion for sports
Jean-Claude Camille Francois Van Warenberg, which is the real name of our today’s star,
was born on October 18, 1960 in the small town of Berchem-Sainte-Agathe near Brussels
in Belgium, in the family of Eliana and Eugene Van Warenberg, an accountant and a florist. His father is from Brussels and is bilingual,
and his mother is Flemish who speaks Dutch. They also have a daughter, Veronique. It is because of the actor’s origin and
incredible physical abilities that Jean got his nickname "The Muscles from Brussels". From his childhood, Jean-Claude was attached
to his parents, especially to his mother. He was raised Catholic. His father always told his son that God existed
in every religion. One day, at the age of 11 or 12, the boy woke
up in the middle of the night and felt that he wanted to pray. He got dressed and went to the local church. There he knelt down and made three wishes:
to save the world, preserve nature and become a movie star. Eugene introduced his son to martial arts
when he saw that the boy was physically weak. As Van Damme recalled: "I remember once, in
eleven years, I first looked at his reflection in the mirror - a puny four-eyes, skin and
bones. And I was fond of comics - you know, those
superheroes with beautiful bodies, they came out victorious from any troubles ... In short,
I decided to train. I even jumped from roof to roof - is dangerous,
of course, but as a result of all this is gone in my favor...". At the age of 11, Van Damme began practicing
martial arts at the “Centre National De Karate” under Master Claude Getz in Ixelles,
Belgium. The boy trained for 4 years before getting
accepted into the Belgian national team. As a teenager, he won the European Professional
Karate Association middleweight championship and also defeated the 2nd best karate player
in the world. In 1976, at the age of sixteen, Jean-Claude
also started bodybuilding and went to ballet, which he practiced for 5 years. According to him, it is "an art, but it's
also one of the most difficult sports. If you can survive a ballet workout, you can
survive a workout in any other sport." His former dance teacher Monette Loza said
that the boy had two exceptional gifts: strength and flexibility. His skills were so perfect that his career
could have taken a completely different turn. World-renowned choreographer Maurice Béjart
wanted Jean-Claude to join his troupe to become a premiere. However, the boy saw himself as an actor and
a fighter, so he refused the tempting offer. At 18, he received a black belt in karate
and the title of Mr. Belgium at the annual bodybuilding competition. Inset quote: "Karate made me what I am. I mean, karate, first of all, transformed
me from a very anxious person. I'm very emotional and sensitive. Karate brought me good physical abilities,
and then karate brought me the dream of being a movie star." (Van Damme)
Later, he used the knowledge gained during those years to become an action star in Hollywood,
combining karate with ballet. This helped Van Damme stand out from the competition
— after all, not many people could do a perfect split on the ground and in the air. "I mixed the grace and the movement with the
power of karate. It's been a big help in my movies," Van Damme
explained in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. So far, for the next 6 years, he participated
in both full-contact and semi-contact matches. He debuted under the name Jean-Claude Van
Warenberg. In his first match, Jean-Claude was knocked
down by a spin kick from his opponent Toon Van Oostrum in a sparring session in Brussels. However, the young man quickly stood up and
after a few minutes knocked out Van Oostrum. In 1977, at the WAKO Open International in
Antwerp, Jean-Claude lost by judges’ decision to his teammate Patrick Teugels in a semi-contact
match. At the Challenge De Espoirs karate tournament
in the 1st qualifying competition of 1978, Jean-Claude took 2nd place in the semi-contact
division. He defeated twenty-five opponents during the
week-long tournament, but lost in the finals to Angelo Spataro of the Naha club. Later that year, Jean-Claude lost yet another
3-round match for the Belgian lightweight title to his teammate Patrick Teugels. The following year, he went to the United
States of America, to Tampa, Florida. In his first and only match against an opponent
from the United States, Van Damme faced Sherman 'Big Train' Bergman, a kickboxer from Miami
Beach. For the first and only time in his career,
Jean-Claude was knocked to the ground after receiving a powerful left hook from Bergman. However, he got up and knocked Bergman out
with a perfectly timed punch in 56 seconds of the first round. Jean-Claude was a member of the Belgian team
that competed in the La Coupe François Persoons karate tournament. His victory in the final match allowed his
team to win the European Team Championship. However, Jean-Claude's goal was still to defeat
his old rival Patrick Teugels. And on March 8, 1980, at the Forest Nationals
tournament in Brussels, he finally succeeded. Van Damme knocked Teugels down, the opponent
suffered a nose injury and was unable to continue. So Jean-Claude won the fight in the first
round. On August 25 of the same year, the athlete
got married for the first time. Maria Rodriguez, a girl of Venezuelan origin,
became Van Damme's sweetheart. He was only 19, while the bride was 7 years
older. Before making their relationship official,
the couple dated for two years. Later there were rumors that the marriage
was most likely arranged. The fact was that Maria was a very rich woman. To comfort the ambitions and ego of young
Jean-Claude, the woman sponsored her husband’s business - opening “California Gym", where
Van Damme could work, teaching karate, aerobics, bodybuilding and dance. It was quite profitable. So it's no surprise that the action star was
always tight-lipped about his first marriage. And do you think Van Damme can be called a
gold digger? Share your opinion with us in the comments. In the same 1980, Van Damme attracted the
attention of Mike Anderson, publisher and editor of Professional Karate Magazine, and
multiple European champion Gert Lemmens. Both men called Van Damme a future prospect. This is not surprising, considering that Jean-Claude
broke the kickboxing record, as he had 18 victories by knockout and only one loss. However in tournament and non-tournament semi-contact
matches, he had 44 victories and only 4 defeats. Two years later, Jean-Claude left martial
arts and divorced his wife - all in order to fulfill his biggest dream - to become a
movie star. The beginning of a film career
In the 1980s, Jean-Claude, along with his friend Michel Qissi, left Belgium for the
United States with $3,000 in his pocket and almost zero knowledge of English. The boys' goal was to fulfill the American
dream and become actors. During an interview with “Martial Arts Professional”,
Van Damme said: Inset quote: "...I came to America full of
confidence because of karate. Same way with the movie business. [If] one day I didn't succeed, tomorrow I
will succeed. And I kept chasing my dreams and kept being
in good shape, physically and mentally." (Van Damme)
After he ran out of money, Van Damme fell on hard times. He had to live and sleep in his car. But he remained focused on his dream of becoming
a movie star, and that focus helped him achieve it. Later, the actor recalled: "All the time,
I believed in my head that my dream would happen. Every day, I said thank you in advance for
my success. And I was praying and praying and praying
to God, which is all I could do. And guess what? It happened! The dream came true. I was very lucky!" On the screen, Jean-Claude and his friend
Michel appeared in 1984 as extras in the hip-hop dance film "Breakin'", shot by Cannon Films
studio. It featured friends dancing in the background
during a street dance. Around the same time, Van Damme became friends
with martial arts star Chuck Norris. They began sparring together, and Jean-Claude
began working as a bouncer at a bar called “Woody's Wharf”, owned by Norris. In the 1984 action film “Missing in Action”,
starring Norris, Van Damme was included in the stunt team. In the same year, he played a role in the
comedy short film “Monaco Forever”. However, real success wasn’t coming, and
Van Damme's path to stardom was full of disappointments and failures. Between numerous castings, he had to work
as a chauffeur, deliver pizzas and parquet floor layer. It was during this difficult period of his
life that he met his second wife. Surprisingly, little is known about her either. Cynthia Derderian was the daughter of the
owner of the construction company where Van Damme worked as a parquet floor layer. Jean-Claude's new father-in-law paid for his
English lessons and agreed to pay for acting class, but the ambitious young man said that
they were not necessary. On May 2, 1986, the premiere of Corey Yuen's
martial arts film “No Retreat, No Surrender” took place in Los Angeles. This was Van Damme's first significant role,
as he played the Russian villain Ivan, a Soviet martial arts master in this movie. He was opposed to American teenager Jason
Stillwell, a Bruce Lee fan, played by Kurt McKinney. After the film's success, Jean-Claude divorced
his second wife. As Cynthia said later: "Life with Jean-Claude
was a real hell. For him, there was always only one very important
person in life - he himself." The actor did not comment on his divorce. He was focused on his main goal - to conquer
Hollywood. So the very next year, Van Damme was cast
in the role of Predator in an early version of the famous movie. The director's idea was to make this alien
a nimble ninja-like hunter, using the young actor's martial arts skills. However, after a few days of filming, Van
Damme left the project. It was said that the man kept complaining
that the monster suit was too hot and he was constantly losing consciousness. After the success of “Predator”, Van Damme
said that he enjoyed the film, but did not regret dropping the villain role. Do you imagine Jean-Claude as the Predator? Let us know in the comments if you watched
this old action movie starring Schwarzenegger! In 1986, five years after arriving in the
USA, Van Damme met his third wife - American bodybuilding champion, model Gladys Portuguese. Seeing her at a party, the aspiring actor
publicly declared: "I will marry this girl!" Everyone who was there just laughed. But Gladys believed and did everything to
help Jean-Claude become a real star. When their first child, Kristopher, was born,
she left sports and limited her interests to taking care of her family. Gladys developed a special diet for her husband
based on horse meat and stewed rabbit. The rising star needed high-protein food with
minimum fat. Waiters around the world are still surprised
when the actor orders his favorite dishes: Brussels mussels, stewed horse with seafood
salad or parrot stew. In 1988, the film "Bloodsport" was released,
which finally made Van Damme famous and opened the door to the world of big cinema. The movie told the story of Frank W. Dux,
a real-life American martial artist who served in the army, but decided to leave it to participate
in an oriental martial arts tournament in Hong Kong. Interestingly, this was one of the few films
with scenes shot in Kowloon, surrounded by the city walls, before its destruction. The movie was advertised as a biopic. Since then, however, much doubt has been cast
on the truthfulness of Dax's story, and most martial arts enthusiasts now regard his accounts
of competing in secret tournaments as complete fiction, as well as his claims of military
service and being an undercover CIA agent. Some have said that he was the only source
that claimed these secret tournaments exist, and that no one else has confirmed his story
or told their own version. What we can be sure of is that the real Frank
Dux was the film's fight coordinator. After shooting was over, Frank repeatedly
said that Jean-Claude was not in very good shape, so Frank put him through a three-month
training program. Van Damme called these three months "the hardest
training of his life" - despite the fact that he was a world-class martial artist. By the way, his friend Michel also participated
in the film. The movie budget was $1.5 million. However, it could never be released at all. Rumor has it that Jean-Claude was unhappy
with the first edited version, so he took it upon himself to re-edit it according to
his own vision. So that was the version of the young Belgian
that we all know and love that was released on the screens. Moreover it was during the shooting of this
film that the actor decided to change his too long last name to a shorter one - Van
Damme. Jean Claude took it in memory of his deceased
karate friend Rudy Van Damme. Also in 1988, the actor played another Russian
villain in the film "Black Eagle" together with Sho Kosugi. In the film, the latter was a martial arts
master and special operative of the US government, codenamed "Black Eagle", and was called by
his superiors after Russian forces shot down an F-111 plane over Malta. Apparently, at that time, Van Damme had some
resemblance of a Russian with his strange accent and unusual appearance for Americans. But it seemed that the actor was okay with
playing villains at that time. International recognition and bad habits
After the success of "Bloodsport," Cannon Films offered Van Damme the lead role in three
films: "Delta Force 2," "American Ninja 3" and "Cyborg," a cyberpunk martial arts film
directed by Albert Pyun. Van Damme chose the "Cyborg". Truth to be told, Albert wanted to see Chuck
Norris in the main role, as Chuck had a contract with the film company The Cannon Group Inc. But their chief producer Menachem Golan suggested
giving the part to Jean-Claude. However, the actor earned only $50,000 for
this movie. On American television, the film was called
“Masters of the Universe II: The Cyborg”. The fact was that the picture was supposed
to be a continuation of the TV movie "Lords of the Universe", which was released two years
earlier. The script had been already written, but the
project was closed, and it was rewritten for a feature film. It was shot in 24 days in the city of Wilmington,
North Carolina. For the entire time, the actors practically
did not call each other by their names. Also, the film had very few characters, dialogues
and almost no weapons. It did not pass without an accident. In the plot, Gibson Rickenbacker had to use
his martial arts skills to fight his way through a series of criminals and pirates armed with
knives and swords. In one scene, stuntman Jackson "The Rock"
Pinckney, who played one of the pirates, was supposed to attack Van Damme's character with
an artificial knife. Jean-Claude should have knocked the weapon
out of Jackson's hand and instead hit him with it in the eye. Pinckney, who was a military man at the time,
was discharged from the army due to partial blindness caused by a rubber knife. The stuntman sued the actor, because he believed
that he had intentionally harmed him. It’s fair to say that Jean-Claude was often
accused of beating his opponents for real on the set. The star's lawyers insisted on unintentional
damage. The judge was on the victim’s side and "Rock"
won the case. Jean-Claude was found guilty and paid Pinkney
$487,000 as compensation. The film premiere took place simultaneously
in 830 cinemas, and grossed more than $3 million over the first weekend, which almost doubled
the movie budget. Later, the films "Cyborg 2: The Glass Shadow"
and "Cyborg 3: The Recycler" were filmed, which had nothing to do with this movie or
Van Damme. In the same year, Van Damme also appeared
in "Kickboxer" in the role of Kurt Sloan, who, together with his brother Eric, went
to Thailand, the birthplace of kickboxing, to prove to local fighters the superiority
of the American school over the Thai one. This time, his friend Michel Qissi played
Eric's rival, portraying Thailand's champion Tong Po. By the way, Qissi is listed in the credits
as Tong Po, due to which many viewers have the wrong idea that Tong Po was a real athlete. In the film, Van Damme used the fighting style
of Shotokan karate-do, mixing it with Muay Thai, while Tong Po used only Muay Thai. The plot of the movie also included hard exercises
of the real actor’s coach Claude Getz. For example, at the end of each session, he
would set a dog on his student, so that the already exhausted boy would still run home. The film was very successful, earning over
$50 million on a budget of $3 million. Later it started the Kickboxer franchise. However, Van Damme did not appear in any of
the four sequels, although he returned as a different character in the Kickboxer TV
series. In 1990, Van Damme participated in the action
film "Death Warrant", written by David S. Goyer, and also starred in "Lionheart". The film was directed by Sheldon Lettich,
who co-wrote the script for “Bloodsport”. He noted that it was "the first movie to demonstrate
that Van Damme was more than just a flash-in-the-pan 'Karate Guy' who would never rise above simplistic
low-budget karate movies." He also showed Van Damme's bare buttocks,
which, according to Lettich, "became a very memorable moment for the ladies in the audience,
and for the gay guys as well. Showing off his butt (clothed or unclothed)
almost became a signature trademark of his after that." In the same year, the Van Warenberg family
had a newborn - Gladys gave birth to a girl, Bianca. However, despite the daughter’s birth, Jean-Claude
began to pay little attention to his family. He was at home less and less, attended social
events and returned in the morning drunk and with traces of lipstick on his clothes. Despite such actor’s behavior, none of the
spouses was in a hurry to file for divorce. Van Damme was more concerned about his career. In 1991, he got to work with Sheldon Lettich
again. This time in the movie called "Double Impact". In it, Jean-Claude plays two roles - Alex
and Chad Wagner, twin brothers who fight to avenge the death of their parents. After its release, the movie received mixed
reviews. The Los Angeles Times wrote that the film
"delivered the goods", while Variety did not like the plot and predicted the film's failure
at the box office. However, in the first 28 days, the film collected
about $24 million, which was quite good at the time. Retrospective critics even now perceive the
picture as a fun action film, with excellent comic moments and a good performance by Van
Damme, who plays two different characters. Star’s next project was the main role in
one of the biggest blockbusters of the year - the fantastic action film "Universal Soldier",
directed by Roland Emmerich. By the way, this is the same Emmerich who
directed "Independence Day" with the incomparable Will Smith. The video about this movie star is already
on our channel. We invite you to watch it after this one. The film told the story of Luke Devereaux,
played by Van Damme, a former US Army soldier who died during the Vietnam War in 1969 and
was brought back to life by a secret military project called the Universal Soldier. His rival, Sergeant Andrew Scott, played by
Dolph Lundgren, intended to kill Luke and lead the Universal Soldiers. Originally, Andrew Davis was supposed to be
the director, but the producers preferred the European Emmerich, explaining their choice
by stating that a European director would work better with two European actors. The film creators could not decide on the
shooting location for a long time. There were two options: Mexico and Central
Europe. But as a result, the movie was shot in the
south of the USA in Arizona and Nevada. The final fight was filmed for three days. At the Cannes Film Festival in 1992, Van Damme
and Lundgren got into a verbal altercation that almost turned into a real fight. They were quickly calmed down, but the festival
guests remained impressed. “Universal Soldier” was released on July
10, 1992, and although it was a moderate success at the US box office, it became a major blockbuster
worldwide, grossing over $65 million overseas, bringing the movie in general to $102 million
on a budget of just $23 million. Shortly after the film's success, the producers
approached “Midway Games” company with the hope of creating a based-on-film game. The company wasn't interested, but they wanted
to work with Jean-Claude, so they made a deal with him to make a game more similar to “Bloodsport”. Unfortunately, the deal fell through and they
never completed the project. They eventually turned their idea into Mortal
Kombat, and Van Damme became the prototype for the Johnny Cage character. In addition to a similar appearance and the
same initials, Jean-Claude and Johnny Cage had the same story. However, due to bureaucratic disputes, Cage
never became an official copy of the Belgian actor. Despite the rapid success and the career that
the actor dreamed of, his family life was far from perfect. It was during this period when a seductive
brunette, Ms Hawaii, Darcy LaPier, appeared in Van Damme's life. One day she called Jean-Claude and invited
him over. She offered Jean-Claude to make love to her
and he accepted it without hesitation. And unlike dozens of fleeting girlfriends,
the fiery Darcy was really special. He divorced Gladys after six years of marriage,
and married Darcy, who left her husband, millionaire Ron Rice, for him - which, however, she later
regretted. But so far it was the most romantic period
in the life of Jean-Claude and Darcy — the lovers were together everywhere, talked in
their numerous interviews about how happy they were, took erotic pictures for the magazines,
hugged and kissed in front of the whole world. In 1993, Van Damme had a cameo appearance
in “Last Action Hero" and starred in “Nowhere To Run”. This film was the first in a three-picture
deal between Van Damme and Columbia Pictures, and his fee was already $3.5 million. The studio stated that the movie was "true
to his audience and went beyond his audience." A year later, the film "Hard Target" was released. It was John Woo's first American film and
also the first major Hollywood film shot by an Asian director. Initially, Kurt Russell was considered for
the main role of Marine Chance Boudreau, but it turned out that the actor was too busy
with other projects. Woo then agreed with Universal's initial choice
of Van Damme. He got along with the actor during filming
and increased the number of fights in the movie because he knew Jean-Claude was up for
it. The duo of Van Damme and Yancey Butler, investigating
the case of rich people hunting homeless for pleasure, has found many fans. However, in the first versions of the movie,
there were too many violent scenes and even a nude one with the main characters, which
did not please the Motion Picture Association of America. Woo had to edit the film 7 times to remove
significant age restrictions and attract a larger audience. After its first release, "Hard Target" received
mixed reviews from film critics, but was a financial success. The film later became a favorite among fans
and critics, especially for its action scenes and direction. 1994 was remembered by the actor’s fans
because of another well-known movie - the American sci-fi action film "Timecop" by Peter
Hyams. It was based on the comic book from the Dark
Horse series. In “Timecop”, Jean-Claude appears as Max
Walker, a police officer in 1994 and later a US federal agent in 2004, when time travel
became possible. It also starred Ron Silver as a corrupt politician
and Mia Sara as Melissa Walker, Max's wife. The story followed the life of Walker, who
fought time travel crime and investigated the evil politician’s plans. “Timecop” remains the actor's highest-grossing
film as a lead actor and his second film to break the $100 million mark at the global
box office, becoming a classic among fans. Critics generally consider this picture to
be one of the best in Van Damme's career. In the same year, Jean-Claude starred in the
movie "Street Fighter". It was based on a video game. At the time, every teenager in the world knew
about Street Fighter II, which featured strange, semi-magical fighters like Ryu, Chun-Li, and
Guile as they fought to win the World Fighting Championship. Realizing the cinematic game potential, the
producers gathered a team of experts, led by director Stephen de Souza, who was the
screenwriter of “Die Hard” and “Commando”. De Souza was not interested in another tournament
film - he wanted something like a James Bond adventure, with a suitable plot and exotic
locations. While Steven was working on his script, the
producers approved the project's $30 million budget and agreed to a 10-week shoot - six
weeks of which the crew would spend in Thailand, followed by another four in Australia at Warner
Bros' new Gold Coast studio. De Souza's plan was to use a portion of the
budget to train the actors in martial arts prior to filming, inviting famous fight choreographer
Benny “The Jet” Urquidez to help. The studio decided that the film needed a
big star, and the producers called Van Damme, who became the most popular and the most expensive
action actor after the "Timecop” success. The main villain was played by Raul Julia,
who agreed to the role partly thanks to his children - big fans of the “Street Fighter
II” game. But, like Van Damme, he didn't come cheap. As a result there was not much money left
for other actors and the film production itself. So for other roles they took unknown actors. Due to a small timeline and financial difficulties
it was decided to keep only seven characters instead of originally planned 19. But the troubles did not end there. It turned out that the actor Raul Julia was
fighting stomach cancer at the time and was naturally not in the best shape. It was decided to shoot scenes with him later,
so that he had time to gain the proper weight. To make things worse, filming took place in
Thailand, where at the time there was a threat of a coup d'état, so the military blocked
all the roads and there were problems with supplies. Furthermore the wet and humid climate of Bangkok
exhausted the entire film crew. The actors lost weight and did not look like
the best version of themselves. They were able to recover, physically and
mentally only in Australia, with normal conditions and food. If you think that this was the end of the
disaster, you are wrong. After all, it was on the set of "Street Fighter"
that it turned out that the main actor and the studio’s biggest hope had an addiction
to prohibited substances. For the first time, rumors about it began
to circulate at a Hollywood party in the early 90s. However, for a long time there was no real
confirmation of this fact. The actor also kept silent. And only later he confirmed that he started
using in 1992, trying to relieve tension after difficult filming. “I couldn’t talk about it at the time,
but I can now: Jean-Claude was coked out of his mind," de Souza later recalled. “The studio had hired a wrangler to take
care of him, but unfortunately the wrangler himself was a bad influence. Jean-Claude was calling in sick so much I
had to keep looking through the script to find something else to film; I couldn’t
just sit around for hours waiting for him. On two occasions, the producers allowed him
to go to Hong Kong, and both occasions he came back late – on Mondays he just wasn’t
there at all.” Van Damme didn't just use prohibited substances. He was often late for filming, appeared on
the set with a bottle of champagne and annoyed almost all colleagues and the crew. Later it also became known that he had an
affair with his colleague, the famous Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Jean-Claude later spoke about the couple's
relationship: "Sweet kiss, beautiful lovemaking. It would be abnormal not to have had an affair,
she's so beautiful and she was there in front of me every day with a beautiful smile, simpatico,
so charming. I knew Thailand very well, so I showed her
my Thailand. She's a great lady." However, at that time no one knew that the
colleagues on the set had any kind of relationship. In his interviews, the actor spoke warmly
about Kylie and her talent. Apparently it wouldn’t be much of a deal,
but at that time the actor was married to Darcy, and what's more, the couple was expecting
their first child. And clearly the happy wife did not even know
about this affair. As for the movie, it received negative reviews. For his part, De Souza was not upset by the
result of his work when discussing the film: "Jean Claude made two films that earned $100
million: Timecop and this one," he said. “It was extremely profitable for the studio
– it cost $33 million and made $105 million, so it was good for everybody. People say it's so dimwitted it's funny, but
we knew it was funny". The action star was not even going to stop
there and actively continued filming. In 1995, they reunited with Hyams to work
on action movie "Sudden Death". Van Damme was cast as Darren, the fire marshal
at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, where a bunch of terrorists hold the Vice President of the
United States and several other VIPs hostage in a luxury suite during a game. The movie got its name because the events
of the story took place mainly in the extra period of a hockey match, which was called
"Sudden Death". The film used the concept of "Die Hard", in
many ways repeating its plot moves. In the same year, the American writer Steven
Mertz wrote a book version of the movie, which was released in the form of an audiobook. “Sudden Death” received mixed reviews,
although critics agreed that the film was better than most of Van Damme's previous works. At the box office, it almost doubled its investment,
grossing $64 million on a budget of $35 million. The following year Jean-Claude Van Damme wrote,
directed and starred in “The Quest”, an American martial arts film. Set in 1925, the story revolved around a martial
arts tournament in the mysterious "Lost City" in Tibet, where martial artists from around
the world competed for the "Golden Dragon," a statue made of pure gold. Van Damme's colleagues on the set were Roger
Moore, James Remar and Janet Gunn. And his own son Kristopher played a young
Van Damme in the movie. However, the film was remembered by many not
for its plot, but for the scandal that occurred after its release. The fact is that in 1997, Frank Dux, a kickboxer
whom Van Damme portrayed in "Bloodsport", sued the actor. He claimed that the film was a rework of a
script he wrote in 1991 called “Enter the New Dragon: The Kumite”. Dax also accused Jean-Claude of not knowing
how to fight at all. He insisted that "Van Damme ... lied to the
public that he was a martial arts champion." For Dux, this dispute ended in nothing. The jury acquitted Van Damme and dismissed
Frank's lawsuit, saying that the star owed nothing to no one. Besides "The Quest", in 1996 Jean-Claude appeared
in the popular TV show "Friends", playing himself in the two-part episode "The One After
the Superbowl". There, the characters of Jennifer Aniston
and Courteney Cox couldn't share the action star, which later led to a quarrel and a fight
between the young women. He also starred in the American action thriller
“Maximum Risk”. The movie was shot by Hong Kong director Ringo
Lam and was his US debut. Van Damme's partner on the set was Natasha
Henstridge, who was repeatedly credited having an affair with a co-star. And a year later, the actor, together with
basketball superstar Dennis Rodman, starred in another debut American comedy action film
by another Hong Kong director Tsui Hark, called "Double Team". In each of these films, Van Damme appeared
before the audience as a strong, athletic and invincible hero. He also tried to maintain this image in his
numerous interviews, telling about the successes he achieved in sports while still living in
Belgium. The majority believed it. But there were those who seriously questioned
his words. Among them was the then-famous Don "Dragon"
Wilson, one of the best kickboxers in America. Wilson claimed: “I held a special investigation
to find out who he fought and who he defeated, and I found that it was all fake. Yes, he was engaged in karate and he is not
bad at it, but Van Damme did not participate in real championships and did not defeat anyone. I had a strong desire to expose him, but I
remained silent for some time, because this actor contributed to the growth of the kickboxing
popularity with his films." After some time, Don did announce the results
of his investigation, but many did not believe him, stating that Wilson was simply jealous
of Van Damme. Then, to dispel these doubts, Dragon sent
the Belgian star an invitation to fight. Van Damme refused it, citing the fact that
he would receive much less for the fight than for participating in another film. After Van Damme claimed the title of world
champion in kickboxing in a series of interviews, the patience of his colleagues broke. Interviews with athletes who criticized Van
Damme appeared in many publications. They stated that his film fights were the
same, and his technique was whimsical and unreal. Jean Claud’s answer that it was the way
the movies were made, were not accepted by martial arts professionals - as other kickboxing
masters, such as Benny Urquidez or Bill Wallace, looked much more believable on the set than
Van Damme. And what do you think, could Van Damme make
the stuff up, or did other athletes decide to get a little publicity at the expense of
the famous actor? Write your opinion in the comments. Several athletes tried to follow the example
of Don Wilson and challenge Van Damme to a fight, but he refused again, explaining it
by the fact that he was an actor first and an athlete second. However, avoiding a fight with professionals,
Van Damme did not miss the opportunity to test his strength against amateurs. There were several articles in the press stating
that the Belgian actor sometimes lost control on the set and really hit, causing serious
injuries to people. However, Jean-Claude denied those rumors. In his personal life, however, things got
even worse. In the spring of 1996, Darcy figured out that
her husband had cheated on her with a Playboy model Isabelle Fortea. In one of the newspapers, Isabel gave an interview,
where she admitted an intimate relationship with the actor. After reading these revelations, Darcy wanted
to file for divorce, but Van Damme somehow managed to calm his wife down. In March 1997, they reconciled and even spent
a second honeymoon in Florence. But it did not last long. In October of the same year, another scandal
broke out during the couple's stay in Paris. The spouses settled in the luxurious hotel
"Plazza Athenee" and enjoyed life for several days, ordering exotic dishes to their room,
relaxing in the sauna, and eating in the restaurant "Bash" in the evenings. This went on for several days. And then one night the receptionist was awakened
by a scream. A couple of minutes later, a completely naked
woman jumped out into the corridor. The hotel employees recognized Van Damme's
wife. She was covered in blood and begged for help,
saying that her husband was threatening to kill her. The police immediately rushed to the hotel. Darcy was sent to the hospital, where she
received medical care, and Van Damme was asked to leave the hotel immediately. He did not argue and, having collected his
things, moved to "Bristol". The next day, Darcy returned to the States
and filed for divorce. At the court, she told the shocking details
of her life with the Hollywood actor: from addictions to abuse. She also reported that Van Damme threatened
to steal her son from her. Outraged by his ex-wife's revelations, Jean-Claude
countersued. He demanded a paternity test, believing that
Darcy was cheating on him. However the test completely proved that Van
Damme was in fact the boy’s father. According to the court's decision, the actor
agreed to pay his wife alimony in the amount of $27,000 per month for support of their
2-year-old child and another $86,000 for the ex-wife. Thus, each year this divorce cost the actor
more than $1 million. And it was considered the payback for a failed
marriage. Do you think such an amount is fair? Write to us in the comments, we read them
all. Besides his difficult divorce, Van Damme also
had problems with addiction. Realizing this, the actor even went to the
clinic and made a statement to the press: "I have always been an idol for teenagers,
they wanted to be like me. I wanted to shout about the fact that I want
to heal myself - publicly, so that children know: even in bad there is a way out, their
favorite hero will win. He can do it." However, despite this statement, Van Damme's
promise only lasted a week. Then he ran away from the clinic and was again
sucked into the vortex of movie life. In 1998, Van Damme starred in the action film
"Knock Off". Rob Schneider became his colleague on the
set. It was the second and last American project
directed by Tsui Hark; after its release the director returned to Hong Kong, feeling dissatisfied
with his work in the United States. "Knock Off" became one of the last films in
the world showing the still working Kai Tak airport, which was closed in 1998. During filming in Hong Kong, Van Damme fell
into a severe depression, from which he again decided to find a way out in white powder. Inset quote: "I was dying, I felt cold, I
felt hot, I felt scared. I didn’t feel like a man or a woman." (Van Damme)
The actor was struggling with his addiction for six years. The frantic rhythm in which he lived was simply
killing him. He gradually increased the doses. This could not but affect Van Damme's mental
condition. Several times he was between life and death,
and coming home being "high", he did not recognize his own child. One day, Van Damme went to the window in a
Hong Kong hotel room and wanted to end his suffering once and for all. However, he never took the last step. Later, the actor will admit: "I said to myself:
‘I’m not ready. I know what’s death after life." Some time later the actor got a call from
Universal and offered a deal for three films with a fee of $12 million for each. Van Damme told moviegoers that they wouldn't
see his splits unless they upped his salary to $20 million, like Jim Carrey's. Apparently, the actor believed that his backhand
punches were as deadly as the comedian's jokes. In Hollywood, such a big appetite for money
was not appreciated and the star was blacklisted. At least that was what Jean-Claude said. So later he had to agree to those projects
in which he still wanted to be seen. That is why Van Damme starred in the action
movie "Legionnaire" as professional boxer Alain Lefèvre. He portrayed Luke Devereaux again in the sequel
"Universal Soldier: The Return", and also appeared in the action movie "Inferno". Fading popularity
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the actor’s popularity began to fade, new films with his
participation did not gather former audiences. And in 1998, the myth of the invincible Van
Damme was questioned once more. That evening, he and his famous friend Hollywood
actor Mickey Rourke went to one of the strip clubs in New York. Ironically, Jean-Claude's former bodyguard,
a member of the “Hells Angels” biker gang, Chuck Zito, spent time in the same club. Earlier they split their ways and became enemies,
because Zito began dating Darcy LaPier. The actor must have decided to remind him
about it. According to witnesses, Van Damme was the
first to insult the biker, saying that he was "a man without a heart." Zito answered Van Damme in a harsher manner. They started fighting, Zito had punched Van
Damme so hard the latter fell on the floor, but even then the biker didn’t stop and
kept beating the actor. Luckily for Van Damme, Mickey Rourke was there. He picked up his friend and carried him out
of the club. Rourke later admitted in one of the interviews:
"If I hadn't been there, Chuck would have killed him." Despite numerous witnesses to the incident,
Jean-Claude denied everything. The actor was also involved in a scandal that
took place at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach. According to newspaper reports, Van Damme
stayed there with one of his friends, occupying the most expensive room. The young women whom the men invited to their
place were drunk and behaved inappropriately. And later, a sofa flew out of their window. Despite all these scandals, in 1999, Jean-Claude's
third wife, Gladys Portugues, took her ex-husband back and officially became his 5th wife. The ceremony took place in the Belgian town
of Knokke-Heist. After the wedding, Jean-Claude and his wife
settled in their own house in California. In numerous interviews, Van Damme called Gladys
the only woman he truly loved. However, only a few months after the wedding,
Van Damme got into a new scandal. Having drunk too much, he got into his car
and, leaving the parking lot, crashed into one of the residential buildings. After that, the actor tried to escape from
the accident scene, but the alcohol did not allow him to do it - the actor's car went
into a ditch. The police arrived and arrested the star for
driving while intoxicated. The newspapers then made a real sensation
out of this event. As Van Damme has just promised his wife to
become a new person, and somehow ended up in the police station. Trying to rehabilitate himself in front of
his fans, at least on the screen, the actor continued to play in a number of action films. In 2001, he appeared in “Replicant” portraying
a serial killer and his clone who was helping the police. The actor celebrated his 40th birthday on
the movie set in Sofia. Since it’s not customary to celebrate this
date, only the closest friends were invited for the event. Their main gift was a luxurious three-tiered
cake. Furthermore, a big surprise for Van Damme
was the unexpected appearance of his two older children, with whom the actor always had a
great relationship. In the same year, Jean-Claude became the scriptwriter
and the main star in the movie "The Order" directed by the same old Sheldon Lettich. And a year later, he appeared in the action
film "Derailed" with his son Kristopher. Jean-Claude also used his dancing skills in
Bob Sinclair's music video "Kiss My Eyes". By the way, like this video if you also remember
this song. Van Damme's film career at that time could
not be called successful. The same type of action movies, in which he
was lucky enough to act, no longer had the same demand as in the 90s, as the times and
heroes were different back then. The action movie "Wake of Death", where the
Belgian actor appeared as an American gangster opposing the Chinese triad, received mixed
reviews from critics and was shown in cinemas only in some countries. While his main roles in "Second in Command",
"The Hard Corps" and "Until Death" were hardly remembered by his fans. After a series of film failures, Van Damme
became more modest, took control of his mind and learned to soberly look at himself from
the side. His movie "JCVD" of 2008, where he played
himself, was a revelation to the public. This time he actually played! The critics were delighted. “Time” named Van Damme's performance the
second best of the year after Heath Ledger's Joker in “The Dark Knight", previously declaring
that Van Damme "deserved an Oscar, not a black belt". There is a six-minute monologue in the film,
where Van Damme looks directly into the camera at the viewer and with tears in his eyes reveals
his deepest feelings, reflecting on his dreams and failures. When the actor reviewed this passage, he became
ashamed of how he had ruined his career. In this scene, the sensual side of the actor
was most strongly revealed. Apparently, what always distinguished Van
Damme from Schwarzenegger's indomitable type was his naivety, vulnerability, and, of course,
the ability to crack a walnut with his buttocks. Jean-Claude was repeatedly bragging about
this superpower in various interviews as well as in his cameo in the "Friends" series. "JCVD" could attract much more attention and
help so much more in Van Damme's career revival, but the martial artist was not present during
the promotional campaign. This time not because of his huge ego, but
for a good reason. The actor took care of his dog in Thailand,
which experienced clinical death. Jean-Claude believed that supporting his furry
friend was more important than chasing success. In the same year, Sylvester Stallone told
the British magazine FHM the following: "At a party in my home in Miami in 1997, Van Damme
was tired of Steven Seagal claiming he could kick his ass so he offered Seagal outside
into my backyard." According to Stallone, Segal began to make
excuses that it was late and left, and Van Damme tracked him down at a nightclub and
challenged him again. Stallone finished by stating, "Van Damme was
too strong. Seagal wanted none of it." Next year, Van Damme returned as Luc Devereaux
alongside Dolph Lundgren in “Universal Soldier: Regeneration”, directed by John Hyams. The film was shown in cinemas of the Middle
East and Southeast Asia, but it was released on DVD in the United States and other parts
of the world. Since its release, the film has received very
positive reviews as a sequel to the franchise. In the same year, the actor fell in love again. His mysterious mistress turned out to be the
Ukrainian girl Alyona Kaverina. Van Damme's desire to preserve his marriage with Gladys
made her remain in the shadow of the actor's happy relationship. And although the couple appeared together
in public, Kaverina always presented herself as the star's assistant. At first, she shared personal photos with
the celebrity, but later, after rumors of the actor's divorce, she stopped publishing
them. Their romance lasted 11 years. During this time, Kaverina managed to visit
many countries, received hundreds of expensive gifts and would always be remembered as the
celebrity’s lover. Although in 2010, Van Damme turned down the
role of gunner Jensen in the first part of Sylvester Stallone's “The Expendables”,
and the role went to Dolph Lundgren, he still appeared in the sequel. The story followed a group of mercenaries
known as the Expendables, who confronted rival mercenary Villain, who had killed one of their
people and threatened the world with a deadly weapon. Guess who Jean-Claude was playing? Of course, the main villain. We must say that Van Damme coped with this
role and looked quite believable on the screen. "The Expendables 2" collected more than $310
million at the global box office. Critics generally considered the film better
than its first part (citing the increased use of humor and action), but its plot and
dialogues were criticized. In 2012, Belgium honored the actor with a
statue near Westland shopping center. Van Damme was present at the ceremony and
was fond of the statue which depicted him in a life-size battle pose in shorts. But few people know that there is another
statue that can be found in the village of Vandam in Azerbaijan. It portrays a martial artist who performs
his legendary split on two stumps. It's unclear when the statue was installed,
but Van Damme thanked sculptor Azad Aliyev in a Facebook post after seeing it. Besides, there is another statue of the star
in Munich, created to promote his Amazon series “Jean-Claude Van Johnson”. If you want to learn about other movie stars
who deserve the highest awards, hit the subscribe button and the bell as well. Biographies of famous and inspiring people
are regularly published on our channel. Subscribe and you won't regret it. So what now? Lately, Van Damme has developed self-irony. Not only did he star in viral commercials
making fun of himself, but he also starred in the TV series “Jean-Claude Van Johnson”
in 2016-2017. According to the plot of the show, Van Damme's
acting job was only a cover for his real one: carrying out secret missions. Comedy not only made fun of his films, but
also expressed unlimited love to them, and Jean-Claude showed that he could really compete
with Jim Carrey on the path of a comedian. In the same 2017, according to the study Van
Damme turned out to be the second most profitable actor of recent decades. The first was Emilio Estevez. The basis was not the total fees of all films,
but the ratio of costs to profits. It turned out that Jean-Claude returned every
dollar spent on him with a surplus, or rather, four dollars and 20 cents. The most unprofitable employee of the film
industry surprisingly turned out to be Brad Pitt, who generated only ten cents on the
dollar. Van Damme, on the other hand, turned everything
he touched into gold, transforming low-budget action films into box office hits. Now Van Damme is slowly getting back on his
feet. He is in demand for voicing cartoons. For example, in the sequels of "Kung Fu Panda'',
the actor voiced Master Croc, a character who helped the main heroes fight evil. And recently, the star voiced one of the main
antagonists in the new “Minions: The Rise of Gru”. His character Jean-Clawed is a French supervillain
and famous member of the Vicious 6 who has a robotic lobster claw instead of an arm. At least one film with his participation is
released every year. Among the latter, we can recall: "Pound of
Flesh", "Kill 'Em All", "Kickboxer: Retaliation", "Black Water", "The Bouncer" and "We Die Young". And two years ago, the comedy action "The
Last Mercenary" was released on Netflix, where the actor portrayed a former secret service
agent who had to urgently return to France to help his son. The film was shot in Kyiv and Paris. Among other things, the “Silpo” supermarket
in Kyiv was renamed “Votre Marche” for the sake of shooting a film. Also, part of the Ukrainian streets was decorated
with French inscriptions and road signs. And while the film received mixed reviews,
it was great that Jean-Claude was still in demand. As for family life, Van Damme, despite his
nature, remains with Gladys and helps his children to pursue their dreams. The eldest son Kristopher decided to follow
in his father's footsteps from childhood. He is also an actor and producer who worked
with Jean-Claude on “Derailed”, “6 Bullets", and “Assassination Games". Besides his acting career, Kristopher also
has a passion for screenwriting and directing. He was first credited as a screenwriter in
an epic action film “The Tower” produced by his father. The middle daughter Bianca, on the other hand,
hated martial arts from childhood and never dreamed of Hollywood. The girl was seriously engaged in skating,
but due to an injury, she had to give up the big sport. However, she caught herself interested in
filmmaking. After finishing school, Bianca decided to
travel with her father and study acting together with her elder brother. Of course, Jean-Claude supported such an initiative,
and allowed his daughter to star in his own films, such as "The Eagle Path" and "Assassination
Games." And after the release of a documentary about
their family called "Jean Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors", she was noticed by director
Dominic Burns and offered to star in his film "Alien Uprising". The most problematic of Van Damme's children
turned out to be his youngest son Nicholas, whose mother is the actor's fourth wife, Darcy
LaPier. The boy's childhood was not an easy one, because
his parents could not stop fighting over him. They were constantly suing each other, and
the boy was forbidden to see Jean-Claude. Maybe that's why he had problems with the
law as a teenager. Nicholas was accused of threatening his roommate
with physical assault in their apartment in September 2017. He was arrested on suspicion of aggravated
assault with a deadly weapon and possession of prohibited substances. He eventually pleaded guilty and received
probation. Nicholas has only appeared in one film so
far, his famous father's “Kickboxer: Retaliation", but he would likely follow in Van Damme's
footsteps, just like his elder brother and sister. Well, no matter how controversial our today’s
star is, we are sure that there are millions of admirers of his talent all over the world. The unsurpassed splits on chairs and between
two trucks, refined fighting techniques and the actor's charisma became his signature
features in the world of Hollywood and won the hearts of moviegoers in the 90s. Yes, of course, like any person, Jean-Claude
has his weaknesses. Stormy romances, addictions and enormous ego
have almost destroyed his reputation. But the Belgian actor has found the strength
to overcome all bad habits and is now working on improving his public image. Looking at his latest works, it is safe to
say that we have seen not the last of Van Damme's splits and his last backflip will
remain on him. And if you are interested in learning more
details about the career ups and downs of our today’s star, you can click on the video
that appeared on your screen. There we told the facts about shootings and
scandals that did not fit into this video. How did Van Damme save some of his films from
oblivion? And with which colleagues on the set did he
have conflicts? Click on the video and watch. But don't forget to like this one before that. It was "Biographer"! Take care and see you soon!
