Every beginning is difficult: This also applies to the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme. So he was hoping for a big breakthrough when he was offered a role alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger – and was bitterly disappointed.
Of course, we know Jean-Claude Van Damme primarily as an action hero and martial arts luminary from films like “Bloodsport”, “Universal Soldier” and “Sudden Death”. Unlike colleagues like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone, who were also seen in comedies or thrillers, the Belgian-born actor never looked far beyond his genre box in his career – and always concentrated fully on what he did best.
But in the mid-1980s, Jean-Claude Van Damme was not yet a big name: after extra appearances and engagements as a stuntman, his first real role in “Kickboxer” (not as a hero, but as an antagonist) was still to come, and the then mid-twenties had to keep himself afloat with odd jobs – while at the same time waiting for the big role offer that would finally get his career going.
In 1987 it finally seemed to happen: He was given a role as an opponent of Arnold Schwarzenegger offeredwho was already an action film star thanks to films like “Conan the Barbarian” or “Terminator” – Van Damme was supposed to play the Predator in the sci-fi horror film of the same name! But it was mainly due to a misunderstanding that nothing came of it…
Stream “Predator” now on Disney+*
In one Conversation with the Stan Winston School, special effects legend Steve Johnson (“Ghostbusters,” “Videodrome”) explained how Van Damme reacted when he was confronted with his (supposed) costume for the first time. “[Er] “I didn’t have the slightest idea what it was,” Johnson said. “He thought this was the true look of the creature in the film and immediately said, ‘I don’t like that, I look like a superhero.’ He was really angry.”
Johnson tried to reassure the actor by explaining that it was just a technical suit and he would be invisible for half the film – but that didn’t make it any better. “That made him even angrier,” the effects artist continues. “He thought he could do martial arts, that he could fight Arnold Schwarzenegger. He didn’t realize he would be the equivalent of a stuntman!”
Van Damme’s disappointment with his actual role in the film and the fact that he found the costume not only unsightly but also far too uncomfortable caused increasing tensions on the set – until director John McTiernan (“Die Hard”) and the studio finally kicked him out and replaced him with Kevin Peter Hall, who at 2.19 meters tall was already the more suitable stature for the monstrous alien. And Van Damme wouldn’t have achieved the breakthrough he longed for with the film anyway, even though it made genre history and gave rise to an entire franchise. But who really cares who plays the Predator?
Is it because of this experience that Van Damme says he can’t do much with Arnold Schwarzenegger? You can find out exactly what he has to say about the Styrian oak in the following article:
Jean-Claude Van Damme is not a big Schwarzenegger fan: “Arnold doesn’t touch me”
This is an updated republication of an article that previously appeared on FILMSTARTS. A similar article previously appeared on our French sister site AlloCiné.
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