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Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is undoubtedly a legendary figure in the world of action cinema. Known as Muscles from Brussels, the martial artist turned actor left a lasting impact on the genre with his strong on-screen presence and muscular frame. His journey from a struggling martial artist in Brussels to an action superstar is quite inspirational, however, the superstar lifestyle got a little stressful for him.
In 1994, Van Damme appeared as Colonel William F. Guile in Steven E. de Souza’sStreet Fighter,a film that further solidified his status as an action star, however, Van Damme got “out of control” while working in the movie due to his drug abuse, and even had an affair with Australian singer Kylie Minogue.
Jean-Claude Van Damme was out of control while filming 1994’sStreet Fighter
Recently, actor Jay Tavare appeared on theSide Scrollerspodcast, and talked about hisStreet Fighterco-star, actorJean-Claude Van Damme‘s on-set behavior,
“He was basically out of control. We had a lot of colorful moments. I mean, sometimes he would direct, sometimes he was almost flirtatious. He got into trouble by like… He was just literally out of control. They couldn’t control him, so they just let him be Jean-Claude.”
WhileStreet Fighterwas a commercial success, it mostly received negative reviews criticizing its over-the-top special effects and cringey one-liners.
Also read:“I think you’re above this”: Unlike Clint Eastwood, Jean-Claude Van Damme Had to Eat Humble Pie for Turning Down Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables
Jean-Claude Van Damme struggled with drug abuse
All the over-enthusiasm came from Van Damme’s drug use. He once revealed that throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he developed a cocaine addiction. Tavare also added that, despite the addiction, Van Damme also showed professionalism on the sets,
“It was quite fascinating that he managed to pull it off because he was literally like… he would show up on the set, you didn’t know if it was still from last night or is he still okay, but he managed to perform what he had to do. He was a professional in that sense. He was a fun guy. Still to this day when I see him, he’s a fun guy.”
Around the time of filmingSreet Fighter, Van Damme was consuming 10 grams of the substance per day, spending roughly $10,000 a week to fuel his addiction.
Also read:“I’m like a pharmacy”: Jean-Claude Van Damme, 62, Takes ‘Lots of Good Products’ To Keep Doing Spin-Kicks and Splits in Movies
Jean-Claude Van Damme also had an affair with Kylie Minogue while filming the movie
Street Fighteralso featured Australian singer Kylie Minogue as Lieutenant Cammy White. Van Damme once admitted that he had an affair with the singer while working in the movie. In a 2012 interview, the actor recalled (viaMirror UK),
“Sometimes you let go of stuff. I don’t know, maybe. Yes. OK. Yes, yes, yes. It happened. I was in Thailand, we had an affair. Sweet kiss, beautiful lovemaking. It would be abnormal not to have had an affair, she’s so beautiful and she was there in front of me every day with a beautiful smile, simpatico, so charming, she wasn’t acting like a big star. I knew Thailand very well, so I showed her my Thailand. She’s a great lady.”
Van Damme’s career has seen its share of ups and downs, but he will always remain an important star who reshaped the action genre with his blockbuster hits.
Related:“He’d like to die on set”: Sylvester Stallone Told Jean-Claude Van Damme He’d Rather Die Than Retire From Action Movies
Source:Side Scrollerspodcast
Farhan Asif
Articles Published :1696
Farhan Asif is a gaming writer at FandomWire who specializes in video games/franchises like Helldivers 2, GTA, and Call of Duty. Apart from 1600+ published articles for FandomWire, he has also written more than 750 articles for AnimatedTimes. He has a passion for coding and is pursuing a degree in computer science. During his free time, Farhan loves to play video games and hopes to create a video game of his own one day.
