There’s an city legend about Jean-Claude Van Damme that’s been floating round for years. The story goes that JCVD was working as a waiter when Cannon Movies head Menahem Golan walked in. To impress him, Van Damme supposedly threw a roundhouse kick an inch from his face, wowed him on the spot, and walked away with a film contract—resulting in Bloodsport.
It didn’t fairly occur that manner. Van Damme’s rise to fame—the “Muscles from Brussels” story—was a lot slower and included an sudden detour by means of one of many largest motion films of the ’80s: Predator.
However wait—should you’ve seen Predator, you already know the person inside the enduring monster swimsuit was Kevin Peter Corridor, not JCVD. So what occurred?
In 1982, Jean-Claude moved from Brussels to the U.S. together with his finest buddy Michel Qissi (who later performed Tong Po in Kickboxer). The pair have been martial artists in Europe however couldn’t catch a break in Hollywood, taking up menial jobs and bit components.
The truth is, you’ll be able to spot them as extras in Cannon Movies’ Breakin’, cheering on a breakdancing competitors—an ironic start thinking about Cannon would later launch Van Damme’s profession.
Coaching with Chuck Norris
Van Damme’s first actual break got here when he met Chuck Norris, then Cannon’s prime motion star. The 2 skilled collectively, and photographs even exists of JCVD holding pads for Norris. Working as Norris’s assistant helped Van Damme get on the stunt group for Lacking in Motion, probably incomes him his SAG card.
Quickly after, he scored villain roles in No Retreat, No Give up (a Hong Kong-produced movie directed by Corey Yuen) and Black Eagle alongside Sho Kosugi. Each movies have been modest hits, however leading-man standing nonetheless appeared far off.
Enter Predator
Then got here Predator. Van Damme was employed to play the alien monster—his supposed Hollywood debut. However he lasted solely two days on set.
Based on Final Motion Heroes by Nick de Semlyen, Van Damme was shocked to be taught he’d be fully lined in a cumbersome swimsuit. Co-writer Jim Thomas recalled, “I think he thought he was going to be the hero. He kind of erupted when they asked him to get into the suit. It was disastrous.”
Van Damme later mentioned the costume made it unattainable to carry out martial arts and even breathe correctly. “It’s boiling hot,” he recalled. “I started to panic. When Joel asked me to jump, I said, ‘This is impossible. We’re going to have a problem.’ Then he replaced me.”
Invoice Duke, who performed Mac, backed him up:
“The original Predator was much smaller, with a stealth suit and wires to make him ‘fly’ in the trees. Van Damme passed out twice from dehydration. The producer told him, ‘If you pass out again, you’re fired.’ Two weeks later, he passed out again—and they fired him.”
The Notorious Lizard Go well with
The swimsuit Van Damme wore wasn’t the one Kevin Peter Corridor would later make well-known. The unique design appeared, as director John McTiernan put it, “like a lizard with the head of a duck.”
He recalled, “It was awful… it came in a box, and Joel Silver and I looked at it and said, ‘We’re in deep trouble.’”
In the end, the creature was fully redesigned by Stan Winston—with James Cameron suggesting the enduring mandibles. The ultimate model grew to become considered one of cinema’s most legendary monsters.
Had Van Damme stayed, we would have been caught with a laughable-looking Predator—and no basic film.
Bloodsport and Past
Being fired turned out to be a blessing. Cannon lastly gave JCVD the lead in Bloodsport, although the preliminary minimize was so unhealthy it nearly went straight to video. Van Damme personally helped re-edit the movie, which grew to become successful and launched his profession.
Even then, Cannon didn’t absolutely imagine in him, dumping him within the low-budget Cyborg. Fortunately, when Cannon went bankrupt, MGM picked up considered one of his movies—Demise Warrant—serving to kick off his early-’90s heyday.
As for Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger went on to superstardom, whereas Van Damme and Chuck Norris would later seem collectively in The Expendables 2.
Enjoyable truth: Steven Seagal nearly starred in Predator 2 as a martial-arts-trained psychologist—however his script concepts have been so wild the studio changed him with Danny Glover.
What If?
Would movie historical past have been totally different if Jean-Claude Van Damme had stayed on because the Predator? Most likely. However given how horrible that authentic swimsuit appeared, we would not even be speaking about Predator right this moment.
What do you suppose? Would JCVD’s model have labored—or was getting fired the very best factor that ever occurred to him?
