jcvd - Movieline

Close Reads || BY Gino Orlandini || 10 25 2012 5:40 PM

God Damme! The Top 5 Jean-Claude Van Damme Movies Of All Time

In 1992 Jean-Claude Van Damme was sitting in a splits kick astride the world. The former body building champion and genuine full-contact karate knockout artist (19-1, with 18 KO’s) was riding a string of high-kicking lo-fi gems to his first big-budget affair: the unexpected Roland Emmerich sci-fi hit, Universal Soldier. The film’s $102-million worldwide haul caught the attention of major studios, and faster than a jumping wheel kick, a three-picture deal worth a reported $36 million was steadied in front of the Belgium-born ballerino like a pre-cut breakboard. more »

Newswire || BY Jen Yamato || 07 28 2011 7:30 PM

Jean-Claude Van Damme Wants to Be Taken Seriously as an Actor, Like Clint Eastwood

Having revealed his inner thespian in 2008's JCVD, Belgian martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme wants to be taken more seriously as an actor. Speaking with Box Office Magazine -- ironically, to promote his latest actioner, the hit man thriller Assassination Games (in limited release July 29) -- the Muscles from Brussels cited Clint Eastwood as a career role model: "I love action films, and my fans expect action films, but I can act! And I really want a chance to show what I can do." Note to Jean-Claude: The first step in being taken more seriously? Stop making movies with titles like Assassination Games. [Box Office Magazine]