Jean-Claude Van Damme can look back on an extremely eventful career. Their peak phase was several decades ago now. Nevertheless, the star of “Universal Soldier” and “Bloodsport” has gained a lot of experience in the film world over the years, both inside and outside Hollywood.
And the 63-year-old Belgian shared exactly these experiences in a lengthy conversation with the British magazine now an astonishingly candid insight. So it’s not just Vin Diesel, who reportedly didn’t let him star in “Fast & Furious,” and Steven Seagal, who wouldn’t participate in a show fight with him, who are getting their fat trimmed off. Also Van Damme made a passionate plea for the work of stunt people and in doing so, they have apparently dismissed some claims that actors complete their action scenes entirely by themselves as a PR ploy…
‘We need stunt people’
“When they talk about doing their own stunts, a lot of it is bullshit,” the action star said of alleged Hollywood stunt lies, which would also downplay the importance of stunt professionals. And he should know that he not only has acting expertise, but also relevant martial arts expertise.
Even he didn’t always fight personally in his movie battles, as he said in an interview with revealed. And that’s a good thing, especially if you look back on a time when you couldn’t really do tricks with CGI and everything had to be real: “I’m very proud of it [Stuntleute]because they make me look very strong. […] We need stunt people, they are great.” However, Van Damme does not let others copy his trademark: “If I give a kick, that is my specialty, there are no stunt people.”
Stunt people should get Oscars
Van Damme ultimately concluded his expression of love for the stunt profession, which is often criminally overlooked in the public eye, by saying that he – like several other action stars before him – was in favor of awarding an Oscar for the best stunt performance: “I don’t understand why they never gave out an award there for the best stuntman of the year.”
Anyone who wants to convince themselves of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s action qualities can soon do so again with one of his great classics in the cinema. As part of the Best of Cinema series presented by FILMSTARTS, Roland Emmerich’s science fiction thriller “Universal Soldier” will be shown again for one day in select cinemas on November 7, 2023.