From ‘Ugly as a louse’ to Adored Action Star: The Transformation of Jean-Claude Van Damme

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The hidden face of Jean-Claude Van Damme

When we talk about Jean Claude Van Dammewe often imagine him as this statuesque man who takes his place on a podium made up of action film specialists like Sylvester Stallone And Arnold Schwarzenegger, but also sometimes as a slightly offbeat personality whose words get mixed up a lot, and to whom we owe the famous expression (or Anglicism) “aware”. And that, JCVD is awareand he intends to show everyone that it contains multitudes.

Not only has he recently diversified his portfolio by lending his voice to Jean-Clawed in the animated film Minions 2: Once upon a time Gruwhich gave us flashbacks of the dear Master Fang that he had interpreted in Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3, but the actor also decided to take stock of his life at the heart of a documentary. Based on archives and testimonies from relatives of JCVD, Jean-Claude Van Damme – Blow after blow offers a new look at the martial arts practitioner by studying his ups, his downs, and who he was before becoming Van Damme.

From an insecure teenager to an action star, it's only one step

He was stiff as a post, short-sighted as a mole, ugly as a louse… He was full of flaws!

In the documentary made by Olivier Monssens, the karate teacher does not mince his words. He paints the portrait of a shy and fearful young boy who has nothing to do with the man we found alongside Sylvester Stallone And Arnold Schwarzenegger In Expendables 2: Special Unit or more recently in The Last Mercenaryan exclusivity Netflix. Difficult to reconcile these two images, and yet, it is this low self-esteem which pushed Van Damme to turn to martial arts, classical dance, and bodybuilding, sports which shaped the action hero we know today, and which allowed him to form real bonds with Claude Goetzwith whom he is still close today.