News Culture A wacky anecdote thrown back: when one of cinema’s most famous monsters was about to be played by Jean-Claude Van Damme
Published on 09/07/2023 at 11:40 am
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This is one of the most famous anecdotes in the history of science fiction cinema: long before Jean-Claude Van Damme became a martial arts star, he should have played the legendary Predator. But things didn’t go as planned.
A pop culture icon
Among the great figures of pop culture and science fiction cinema we find the Predator. Created by the Thomas brothers in the ’80s, this iconic alien was introduced in the 1987 film of the same name, directed by John McTiernan and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
With five films to his credit, the Predator is one of 20th Century Fox’s sci-fi mascots, alongside Xenomorph from Alien, whom he even encountered during both the Alien vs. Predator spin-offs in 2004 and 2007. But already with the first film in 1987, the monster gained its greatest fame. And back then he was going to be played by one of action cinema’s most famous actors: Jean-Claude Van Damme.
A chaotic gunfight
Yes, Jean-Claude Van Damme actually impersonated the Predator for a brief moment before being fired from filming by the production. The reason for his fall was rumored for many years before the famous Belgian actor gave his version of the facts to the Hollywood Reporter in 2019. He then explained that he refused to do a stunt requested by producer Joel Silver because he felt it was risky due to the costume, whose original design was particularly restrictive. A wise decision as the replacement stuntman would have actually been injured at that point.
The first version of the Predator costume
In 2021, however, actor Bill Duke, who played Sergeant Mac Elliot in that first film, broke the mold. Jean-Claude Van Damme would have been fired from filming because he passed out on set.
He wore a camouflage suit and was hung from wires so he flew into the trees. He passed out twice due to dehydration. The producer said, “If you pass out again, I’ll fire you!” Two weeks pass and the guy passes out again. The producer comes and fires him. Bill Duke for Murder Master music show.
Jean-Claude Van Damme had specifically stated that after putting on his suit, he had to breathe through a small tube protruding from his mask. The difficult outdoor shooting conditions and the poor design of his costume bothered him. Despite this first failure, the Belgian actor managed to recover perfectly a little later with his role in “Bloodsport”, which propelled him directly to the rank of international star and made him an indispensable figure in martial arts cinema.