Interviews

King Of Kung Fu Presents: The Jean Claude Van Damme Interview

I have to start this by saying,this is the biggest interview i have done to date and will be very hard to top. Jean Claude Van Damme has been one of my idols since the early 1990’s and i am still a massive fan today, so for him to agree to doing this, is just incredible.

Jean Claude is known all over the world, ever since the early days of Blood Sport, Cyborg, kick-boxer, you knew that he would become one of the biggest stars in the world. We knew him for throwing down some of the best kicks in martial arts cinema with his jumping 360 spin kick one of the best i have ever seen. But in the past 10 years or so, he has started changing his characters and showing more of his acting ability to the audience (Wake Of Death, JCVD, In Hell), plus many more which as worked very well.

Recently Van Damme came back into the spotlight in the movie The Expendables 2 and stole the show as the crazy killer taking down Stallones gang, a role which deserves to be applauded. He also as a few new movies at the moment which you need to check out very soon, the comedy Welcome To The Jungle, UFO, the upcoming Enemies Closer and the latest picture Swelter.

He is now back where he belongs, at the top and i hope that carries on for many more years to come.

Kickboxing career
Many people have tried to say Van Damme wasn’t a fighter back in the early days, how wrong they are, Van Damme as a impressive fighting record which stands at 18-1. Most of his wins came by KO or KKO, with such power in his kicks, it’s no wonder his fights didn’t last to long.

He also has a lot more fights under his belt, in Semi-contact/light-contact fighting, Van Damme had over 40 fights altogether, of course these all happened before he started his acting career.

While Van Damme has undoubtedly kept himself busy with both comedy and action movies in recent years, he’s also not one to turn down a good deal in other areas. If you follow Belgian TV, you may have recognized Van Damme in television ads for new online casino. These campaigns were shot early in 2019, in Van Damme’s hometown of Brussels. As a Van Damme fan, you will immediately recognize some of the actor’s signature moves, as he karate chops and dances his way across the screen.

So far there’s no news on whether Van Damme will continue his new career as poster boy for online casinos, but judging by his performance, I’d say it looks promising. Playing a game of chance raises the heart rate in much the same way as performing martial arts, and so it’s not hard to imagine Van Damme enjoying one almost as much as the other. Luckily, the campaigns are both fast and easy to shoot (at least for someone with Van Damme’s experience) and they should be easy to combine with a continuing career on the silver screen.

So here we go people, the interview with the legend himself Mr. Jean Claude Van Damme, i hope you all enjoy.

When you first began studying Martial Arts at such a young age, did you ever dream you would become such a big movie star or did you train just to keep fit?

I wanted to be both, an actor and an athlete. I have been always a big fan of watching movies since my father took me to see Lawrence of Arabia at the theater when I was a kid. I was also motivated by the images of the super heroes from comic books, and some action movie legends like Bruce Lee.

You have a very impressive kickboxing record when you were a member of the Belgium Karate Team, what was your most memorable fight?

I have respect to all the fighters I have faced, but I guess it would be my rematch with Patrick Teugels. I am also still in contact with Sherman ‘The Big Train’ Bergman through my Facebook!

Now your sons and daughter are starring in movies, they have played some great roles and are very talented; I bet you are a proud father. Did you give them much advice on how to be in such a demanding business?

Sure. I let Kristopher, Bianca and Nicolas decide on their own what is best for them to do, but an advice is always good once they need it.

I would love to see you play a villain in a Kung Fu movie, maybe with Sammo Hung, Tony Jaa or Jackie Chan, could this ever be a possibility?

They are good friends of mine and it would be great if we work together. Let us see what tomorrow is going to bring us!

One of my favorite movies of yours in the past 10 years or so is Wake of Death. Your acting was a pleasure to watch, what was it like working with Hong Kong star Simon Yam?

My first movie Bloodsport was made in Hong Kong. I love how people in Hong Kong work hard and respect what they do! So, it is always my pleasure to work with Hong Kong stars. I live in Hong Kong, by the way.

If you were to introduce someone to your catalog of movies to make them a fan, what 5 movies would you show?

Bloodsport, Universal Soldier, Legionnaire, JCVD and Full Love (aka The Eagle Path).

Could you tell us a bit about your upcoming movie Enemies Closer and will we see you and Bolo back together again for Double Impact 2?

In Enemies Closer I play the character of Xander. It’s a new type of character that does not look like the typical Van Damme roles. It’s a crazy character. Let us keep it a surprise till the movie release date.
As for Double Impact 2, it is a bit early to talk about it now…but soon, you might see Triple Impact!!!

What advice would you give a young person, like yourself many years ago, about getting into the fighting and movie world?

If you love something, never give it up, no matter what! Always keep the faith and never lose hope.

Do you have a dream project you would like to share with me and your fans, either in movies or in your life outside movies?

I always share my dreams with my fans because I consider them my friends and my family. I have a dream that I want to achieve with my fans around the world. It’s called the JCVD 360 World Tour.
Keep an eye on my Facebook facebook.com/Muscles.from.Brussels and my official website JCVD-Online.com to read more about it!

Thank you so much for agreeing to do this, it has been a real pleasure; do you have any final words to the readers for Asian Movie Pulse and your fans around the world?

To the readers of Asian Movie Pulse and my fans around the world, I know you have been waiting for Full Love (aka The Eagle Path) since a couple of years but I vowed to bring it out in its best image for you. I put my heart in everything I do because without love, there is no honesty and therefore no success.
I send you all my love, and thank you so much for supporting me, always! Without you, I wouldn’t be the man who I am today. Thank you so much.

— JCVD

I would like to thank Jean Claude personally for taking time to do this interview and also to his Executive assistant Kathy Brayton for arranging it. Please check out my tribute video to Van Damme below.

About the author

kingofkungfu

Hi my name is Justyn Hughes, I have been involved or watched martial art kung fu movies most my life. I started muay thai when i was around 4-5 years old for ten years. I became a fan of kung fu flicks after watching prodigal Son in the mid 90's and that blew me away. Some of my favorite stars are: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, lam Ching Ying, Lau Kar Leung, Ti Lung, David Chiang, Chen Kuan Tai and many more.

King Of Kung Fu (Justyn Hughes)

Favorite movie: The prodigal Son

  • the best of the best actor of Hollywood and the best Fighter In the world and the undisputed all time love JCVD

  • Você é literalmente perfeito em tudo que faz.Arruma tempo pra ser o mais perfeito possível em tudo.É impossível não amar uma pessoa assim.

  • Over the years i’ve started to become more and more of a fan of JCVD..

    note: also love the beer adverts!!!

  • the best of the best actor of Hollywood and the best Fighter In the world…………………….the beeeeeeest.van dam.

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