Jean-Claude Van Damme is a bodybuilder, martial artist, director, screenwriter, fight scene director, actor and producer. He became famous thanks to leading roles in action films, as well as performing complex stunts on his own. Van Damme gained particular popularity due to his incredible side splits, which he can repeat today, despite his advanced age.
How did a boy with poor health, who was constantly bullied by his peers, become a martial arts master and a Hollywood star?
How a frail boy overcame his complexes
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg was born and raised in the Brussels area. He was an only child. His parents doted on him, especially his mother. He was a very sickly boy and his mother loved him and spoiled him so much, blew dust off him, that he grew up a real mama’s boy.
He was a crybaby and a weakling, and would run to his mother to complain at the slightest thing. Jean-Claude wore glasses, was stooped, and his peers cruelly bullied him. Because of this, he became increasingly withdrawn and unsociable. The situation was aggravated by the bipolar disorder from which he suffered.
In those years, doctors did not consider it a disease, and therefore the father, who noticed the problem, decided to fight it himself. He sent his son to the martial arts section. The man was sure that there his son would not only be able to effectively fight aggression, but also get rid of complexes, and improve his health.
It was amazing, but the “weakling” quickly mastered karate and became a black belt holder in 8 years. Soon he became a sports star in his native Belgium. Then he mastered other martial arts and won a bodybuilding competition. Now he hardly resembled the puny crybaby he had been as a child. From now on, Hollywood became his goal.
Conquering Hollywood
Today, Van Damme’s films are popular and viewers flock to the cinemas in droves. Once upon a time, the aspiring actor, or rather, the athlete who decided to become an actor, only dreamed of getting at least a small role. He persistently went to castings, and at the same time worked part-time as he could. He worked as a driver, laid floors, was a bouncer in a nightclub owned by Chuck Norris. Norris offered the impressive athlete a cameo role in his film. After that, Van Damme was noticed by other directors and things moved forward.
From his first role, Jean-Claude already used a pseudonym. The Belgian surname was too difficult to pronounce. Van Damme’s triumph was the film “Bloodsport”. After that, he became a real action star and there was no end to the offers. The actor’s weight was added by the fact that he performed all the stunts himself. After that, roles in box office action films followed one after another. Van Damme became one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood, famous not only in America, but throughout the world.
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s personal life is as turbulent as his career.
Jean-Claude Van Damme was not only a master of martial arts, but also a master in the art of seducing women. He had a huge number of affairs and as many as 5 official marriages. True, Van Damme led the same woman to the altar twice – Gladys Portugues.
The future actor entered into his first marriage in his native Belgium. His wife did not share his Hollywood aspirations and the couple divorced when Van Damme left to conquer the American dream factory. His second wife was a girl named Cynthia Derderian, the daughter of the boss of the company where Jean-Claude worked as a driver. When fame came to him, the relationship fell apart.
Van Damme met the most important woman in his life at a party at Chuck Norris’s. Gladys Portugues was then the reigning American bodybuilding champion. The romance developed rapidly. They soon got married. Gladys bore Jean-Claude two children. When his wife found out about the betrayal, she immediately filed for divorce.
The actor married his mistress and had another son, Nicholas, in this marriage. Due to his fame, the star began to have problems with alcohol, illegal substances, and his bipolar disorder worsened. His wife left him.
When Jean-Claude had completed his treatment, he decided to return to Gladys. She accepted him and they remarried. He remains with her today, despite the fact that the press discussed his affair with the Ukrainian Alena Kaverina for a long time. Jean-Claude dated his new passion for almost seven years, but eventually returned to his beloved Gladys, who forgave her loving husband and took him back.
What is Van Damme doing today?
In 2020, he said that he had ended his career as an action star and would be engaged in social activities. The actor travels a lot, constantly posting his photos on social networks. Unexpectedly, he decided to return to cinema and starred in the film “Human Darkness”.
Van Damme is in great shape. A month ago, he repeated the iconic photo of himself at age 27. Jean-Claude, 63, showed off the same muscular definition and noted that “age is just a number when you live in the world of martial arts.”
The actor said that “discipline, focus and a warrior’s heart” are important to maintaining a youthful body, and stressed that he plans to continue in the same spirit.
Action stars often started out in sports. Sylvester Stallone also suffered from bullying as a child, and then became first a bodybuilder, and then a world-famous actor.
