Jean-Claude Van Damme is among the most iconic names in the Hollywood industry. The Belgian star is not only an ace actor, but also an epic martial artist, filmmaker, and competent fight choreographer. Death Warrant fame is widely deemed as one of the most iconic martial art action heroes of all time. While we are well aware of his love for martial arts, we are here to reveal his other major obsession. Yes, it is true! During his early days, Jean-Claude Van Damme was a huge fan of Rocky star Sylvester Stallone, and once he did something unthinkable to meet his idol.
Jean-Claude Van Damme broke into Sylvester Stallone’s house
In the period when Jean-Claude Van Damme was still trying to set foot in the industry, he was a massive fan of Sylvester Stallone. In his bid to meet the actor, he once tried to break into the star’s house. Lionheart actor shared that he planned to meet his idol and convince him to do a movie with him. He recalled in an interview with Yahoo,
“I was around his house, and I see this blonde lady — it was his first wife [Sasha Czack] — coming out with a bicycle,”
“I was trying to go above his wall. … [Czack] saw that, she called the cops. They came right away. But I [said], ‘I’m a big fan. I just want to do karate with Stallone.’ They [heard] the accent, they saw in my eyes I was innocent. They said, ‘Move on,’.”
The actor later met Sylvester Stallone and they also worked together in a few movies.
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s bad impression on Sylvester Stallone
Jean-Claude Van Damme shared in the interview about his first impression of his idol, when he was approached for The Expendables 2. He shared that he was making his movie Tower at the time and wanted to cast Sylvester Stallone in it. Hence, when Stallone called him to be part of Expendables, instead Demme asked him to star in his film. This left the actor fuming and he told the producers that Jean-Claude Van Damme is a whack. Fortunately, both actors were able to reach a compromise, and they teamed up for the movie.
Jean-Claude Van Damme was afraid of talking to Sylvester Stallone
During the shooting of star-studded The Expendables 2, the actor felt there were some areas of the movie he felt needed to change. He was not happy with how his final fight was handled, hence he decide to tell this Stallone. But Van Damme was very hesitant in telling Stallone his opinions on the film. Hence he wrote the letter to the actor and decided to hand it to him. As he entered his room, Van Damme decided to talk one-on-one. Actor recalled,
“He says, ‘Sit down,’ and I go, ‘Oh f*** it, I’m gonna tell him how I feel.’ I say, ‘Stallone, I think people want to see Muhammad Ali against Frasier. It’s a metaphor. Look at your arms, you’re strong. We need to fight. I need to give you myself to punch and kick the s*** out of me. And hopefully, I will do some damage to you,” Van Damme recalled.”
He searched for the letter later all over the place and ultimately found it in his pants pocket.
A Brief Note on Jean-Claude Van Damme
The muscle master of Hollywood, Jean-Claude Van Damme has had a stellar career with numerous blockbusters under his name. His became the talk of the town with popular bicep pose and the helicopter kick in the air. He gave strong competition to fight kings of the era Stallone and Schwarzenegger and gave some classics like Bloodsport, Kickboxer, and Timecop.
His other hits include The Bouncer, Maximum Risk, Double Impact, and Lionheart, among others. He was last seen playing supporting roles in The Expendables 2 (2012), Kung Fu Panda franchise (2011–2016), Kickboxer reboot film series (2016–2018), and last in Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022).
Source- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
