In that video, I posted several blog posts down where Jean Claude Van Damme explains at a press conference on why he turned town the “Expendables” movie, Jean Claude has been getting a lot of hate on the internet about that video. A lot of fans accuse Jean Claude of acting like an asshole by making fun of Sly’s speaking voice and disrespecting him. Many fans accuse Jean Claude of trying to make Sylvester Stallone look like a greedy rich guy. In this video, Jean Claude explains the reason he turned it down is because, Jean Claude was asking Sly what’s his character and more information about the role he was playing. Sly replied back, “I’m going to make you a star and you’ll get rich”, in this video. So that upset Van Damme which forced him to turn the project down.
Who’s in the right? Is it Sylvester Stallone? Or is it Jean Claude Van Damme? I think Van Damme is doing the right thing here…and here is why.
When you’re a famous Hollywood actor, most actors take their careers so seriously. Actors want to make sure the role they’re playing that is right for them, plus they want to make their paychecks worthy. They don’t care if you’re Sylvester Stallone, Steven Spielberg or Clint Eastwood. Actors will turn the roles down if they don’t like the story and not giving enough information on the film.
Jean Claude has nothing negative against Sylvester Stallone. He made it clear at the end of the video, that Jean Claude respects him as an actor, writer and director. Also around this time Jean Claude was asked by Sly to star in the movie, I’m sure Sly hasn’t yet written a character for Van Damme for the script. Maybe Sly was going to write up a character for him after he agreed to do the film, but Sly didn’t give him enough information, so Van Damme said no.
Jean Claude may not have a successful career in his Hollywood life, he may have had a few huge blockbusters such as “Bloodsport”, “Universal Soldier” and maybe a few others…but Van Damme’s latest film, “JCVD” was a success in the indie film industry. “JCVD” did well overseas in box office and the film even did decent in the U.S. as well. I like Van Damme always had. Maybe Van Damme doesn’t have a lot of Blockbuster hits ’cause he doesn’t want to be a blockbuster star? I see him just doing it for the love of acting, not caring if the movie is a hit or a failure. Van Damme may have poked fun at Sly’s speaking voice in that video but hey, who cares. A lot of people make fun of Sly’s speaking voice ’cause it’s funny sounding. That’s one of the main reason’s why I like Sly ’cause his speaking voice is unique. Never heard anyone talk like that before.
My point is that Van Damme did nothing wrong. He has his right for an opinion and he has the right to do what he pleases. He maybe kind of an ass in that video, I agree, but so what. Van Damme is just being a profesional and an actor. Sly’s idea of this movie was to have a bunch of bad ass action stars all in the same film. I’m sure Sly tried asking many other action stars to be a part of this film like Kurt Russell, Jackie Chan, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, and many others, but I’m sure their reasons for turning the film down was much worse than Van Damme’s.
So this whole Van Damme thing isn’t such a big deal at all and I don’t see why action movie fans are so fed up. Even some die hard fans of Jean Claude are upset at him over the video. If Van Damme is happy doing straight to video movies and indie films, that’s where he wants to be. I thought “JCVD” was a great film and yes, it is a box office success. Look it up in boxofficemojo for yourself. I also respect Van Damme a whole lot ’cause he’s one of the most talented athlete’s than any action star in history. Van Damme has years of martial arts experience, a great bodybuilder who’s still in great shape and all that.
Van Damme is just being honest and keeping things real when it comes to films. I just think action fans took Van Damme’s comments out of context and it was blown out of proportion.
Kev
K'Brocking 