..and gives us an unprecedented look into the mind of a movie legend.
I pray to save the world.
See?
God loves me.
I'll talk to you later.
Coming up...
Shoot him in the head!
..Jean Claude gets trigger happy.
Always go for the eyes and the mouth. Wargh!
He jets around the globe...
I love Paris. It's the place to be when you love somebody.
And these are real people of Ukraine. Hello!
Hello.
..taking in the sights...
Oh!
Moulin Rouge.
..and tasting the Hollywood lifestyle.
This is the best caviar.
1,500 US dollars.
Jean Claude looks back in time...
Jean Claude Van Damme.
There's a trip down memory lane for wife Gladys...
They kept everything the same.
This was your room here.
.. who reveals the dark side of fame.
He was trying to get off, seriously, through a very bad habit called cocaine.
Brussels.
It's the week of Jean Claude Van Damme 's 50th birthday,
and this evening, he 's recording a TV show to mark the occasion.
Da-da da-da da-da-da.
We have everything.
He 's with friend and producer of tonight's studio show, Antoine.
C'est superbe.
VoilÃ .
Jean Claude 's keen to turn up looking the part.
But he can 't leave his hotel room until it's just so.
If I don't put...
They have to be in order.
If not, I cannot even function.
What is this here?
No, I want to make it nice.
We're gonna tell the woman to put it on a hanger.
I have everything I need?
For sure? For sure.
Well, nearly everything.
My watch.
Enchanté.
Comme Ã§a?
Tonight, a variety of people from Jean Claude's past will surprise him on stage.
I don't know what's going to happen.
Me and the audience will be surprised.
Are they gonna bring people from when I was very young, young?
Are they gonna bring some celebrities? I don't know.
You don't see people for a long time,
and then suddenly they appear,
it's going to bring back some memories.
You know?
But he's concerned there could be some guests he's not so keen on seeing.
But sometimes you have bad surprises.
We'll see.
It's amazing how 50 goes.
And my mother told me, 'Wait. From 50 to 60 is gonna go even faster.'
That's why it's good for me to do something special.
After years in the spotlight,
Jean Claude knows the trick to a superstar arrival.
What we're gonna do, guys, before entering the TV show,
we stop, like, at least...
half a kilometre before,
stop the car, put my suit.
So, when I come out, all that bullshit...
OK?
We change.
Alors. Vite.
Tout elegante.
Belgium's beautiful. Look at this.
The trees.
I'm relaxed.
Now I'm scared.
OK.
Jean Claude! Jean Claude!
The martial arts star has fans around the world.
But nowhere is he more loved than in his native Belgium.
Cool, huh? The people love me. That's cool.
And if they don't, they don't.
For TV appearances, even action heroes need a spot of make-up.
We go this way. Are you going to put on lots of make-up?
- Very light. - Soft.
Can you do this sort of shadow?
- Yes. - Here.
And a little here.
But too much of it, then I start to sweat.
Then when I start to sweat, then I know I'm sweating, then I sweat more.
Are you using some animal products?
No. The most of it are...all...
- Natural. - Not everything, but the most of it.
- OK. Because you know what they do, huh? - Yes.
Spraying the eyes and everything. It's a disaster.
Face done.
Excuse me.
Next step - fresh breath.
I like to brush my teeth, always.
If not, I feel bad,
even if the guy's, like, 30 feet away.
It feels clean.
The TV company has pulled out all the stops for tonight.
They've even made a hall of fame for the star of the show.
I want to show you something.
My mama. Oh, she looks so young.
That's my son.
At that time, I only ate vegetables.
No ciggie, no alcohol.
You can see the skin.
That's Delon.
Great guy. Very, very smart guy. Great writer.
One of my idols.
That's my full family, with my wife.
She's now 53 years old.
Never smoke, never drink. She's like a church for me.
Without this woman, I would not be what I am today.
But the most important woman in Jean Claude's life can'tjoin him on stage tonight.
She's out in LA with daughter Bianca, for a trip down memory lane.
We are entering the 1 0 freeway,
heading out to the 405, to the 1 1 8.
We're heading out to the valley - Chatsworth.
They're on their way to the house they lived in
when Jean Claude hit the Hollywood big time in the late 1 980s.
The place holds lots of memories for Gladys.
It's a very simple place, and I love it.
And this is one of the reasons why we lived here.
Because we love...real people.
We love to be around real folks, cos we're like that.
We didn't want a Hollywood lifestyle.
We didn't want it at all. We just wanted to be...
Especially, we did it...
That was our house, here on the corner.
Oh, they put a wreath, Bianca. I'm jealous. I wanna live there again.
The gardener's here.
Hola, José. Como estas?
- Does he still remember you? - Yeah.
How weird.
Un momento. Un momento.
Oh, I'm taller than him now.
I planted all these flowers.
- Oh, it's beautiful, though. - Have you rang the bell?
Yeah.
It's very sentimental. They still have the 'Beware of Bow-Wow'. We put that up.
- We did. - They kept everything the same.
This was your room here.
Kristopher's corner was there and my room was facing the back.
Yeah, but my room changed. It was there, then we moved it.
It has a great kitchen, too. It's a very nice house inside.
It's so deceiving, because it looks small from the outside,
but inside it's huge, and goes way to the back.
We had ducks in our pool.
Yeah.
I learned my first bike round the pool and fell in the pool.
Uh...
Kristopher playing army in the water.
Halloween, everything. Yeah, I liked living here, actually. I miss it a lot.
It's just got so many memories that all come into play.
But this is also the memory of the hard times, also.
Four years after moving to Chatsworth, Jean Claude left Gladys and remarried.
You have to understand, when we divorced,
he moved in with his second wife here.
So, this house has a lot of history.
But when the relationship ended, he wanted Gladys back.
This was ours. It's been tainted.
But wait a minute. You have to be the better person and override that.
Let's make this work. Let's ride this.
That's what I did - I went for a long...ride.
In the years they'd been apart, Jean Claude had fallen victim to drugs.
He was trying to get off, seriously, through a very bad habit called cocaine,
and it was very hard.
So, that wasn't so easy.
I mean, we had some major close calls of nearly losing him.
I mean, losing his life.
It wasn't very easy. Sometimes, if I talk about it, I get very emotional,
because I go back to...
holding him like a baby. I would cradle him like a baby, kind of thing, you know, so...
We took him to a rehab centre.
The kids wanted to know where we were going.
'Dad's going to a special hospital so he can get cured.'
They said, 'But what's wrong with him? '
And then Dad was unbelievable.
He said, 'Kids, I do have something to take care of, and Daddy's gonna feel much better.'
What Jean Claude finally realises now is that,
what's the most important thing for him right now is his family.
And what a family is all about.
And he wishes that he had done that a long time ago.
- Done. - Could you maybe help me out?
Why? Oh. Sorry.
This evening, Jean Claude's in Belgium
to record a TV show celebrating his 50th birthday.
Merci. Merci.
And as he gets ready backstage, he reveals a hidden talent to the crew.
You know, I'm capable of breaking walnuts between my cheeks.
Between my...
All the microphones...
..between my cheeks.
Butt cheeks.
Mesdames et messieurs, bonsoir.
Now I'm getting scared.
Now I'm getting, like, the butterfly.
I don't know what's going to happen.
Do I look nervous?
I do.
They'll be sitting next to me?
Bye. See you guys.
Voici, ll Etait Une Fois, Jean Claude Van Damme.
- Bonsoir, Jean Claude. - Bonsoir.
Merci. Bonsoir, tout le monde.
Tonight's first guests are Jean Claude's mum and dad,
with a message for their famous son.
- Entrez par la? - Oui.
Bonjour.
Backstage, Jean Claude 's son Kristopher is waiting in the wings.
My mouth is dry. I feel nervous.
A bit of the heebie-jeebies, eh? Butterflies.
Et regard.
I have to go on, they ask a few questions.
I don't know what's going on. I'm just gonna answer them.
Then I stay there. We'll see how it rolls.
Being an actor, Kris is used to cameras.
But tonight feels different.
It's actually more nerve-wracking before you shoot a scene,
because you're comfortable with your own character. I have to go to the rest room.
With only minutes until he's due on stage, Kris makes a run for it.
Hold it for me. Don't have time to close it. Hold the door.
Kris has a thing about hygiene.
So, it's a hands-free exit.
Where's the...Iight in here?
Around one minute.
OK.
Kristopher Van Damme.
Throughout the evening, Jean Claude is joined on stage by close friends,
his beloved dogs, and showbiz colleagues.
There 's also an appearance by Belgium 's minister of culture,
who awards Jean Claude with a medal for his services to the entertainment world.
And his fellow action stars are also on hand to pay tribute.
First up, Dolph Lundgren.
Jean Claude who? No, I'm just kidding.
He's the best fighter. I'm the best runner.
He cannot chase me. I can run faster than him.
He's a talented guy and I enjoy working with him.
Finally, he's surprised with messages from across the Atlantic, from wife Gladys...
Bonsoir, RTL.
My darling love.
Um...I really do miss you.
And it's hard sometimes, because we are so far away.
And I'm not there, but even though I'm far away,
my heart is closer than anything else.
So, my heart is embedded in your heart.
It's branded, and I love you.
I wanna wish you the best, happiest 50th birthday ever.
And I love you.
And another message from his daughter Bianca.
I love you. Be careful. Be safe.
I learned so much from you.
And I thank you for that. I love you.
Antoine, the show's producer, is pleased with how it's all gone.
Yeah, it was good.
Yeah, good show. JC was perfect.
It was like we know him.
I think it was great.
You asked me about the surprise.
There were a lot of surprises. It was a good show.
It's a great honour.
It was all the achievement of all those years of being in the film business.
The night was beautiful. It was fantastic.
I enjoyed myself. My father looks great. My family looks beautiful.
I'm happy we got to have everybody there, in a sense. A wonderful night.
Paris, the city of love.
And Jean Claude is on his way to do some promotional work.
It's always weird when we go here
with the fast-speed train.
And er...we have great tea.
When he was starting out, he made weekly trips to the French capital,
to audition for movie parts.
At that time, the train took eight hours, from Brussels to Paris.
Because it stopped at many, many stations.
I was going every Wednesday night,
with a magazine called Film FranÃ§ais,
to go to castings and everything.
Jean Claude got his big break with the movie Bloodsport,
after he moved to LA.
But it was the French who loved it before anyone else.
My first movie, Bloodsport, was badly received in Belgium.
And er...the French people, they made me famous.
I love Paris. It's the place to be when you love somebody.
I like also the UK, very nice too, but...
for a love affair, Paris.
Jean Claude's in Paris to promote a TV show,
which is airing later in the week.
But with a couple of hours before his live radio appearance,
there 's time to steal a quick nap back at the hotel.
Tonight's interview is for a radio station that gets nearly four million listeners a day.
It's called Fun Radio, and the name is making Jean Claude feel nervous.
Uh... radio. Radio Fun.
It's like I'm supposed to be funny.
The problem is, sometimes you're not in shape to be funny, you know?
I just woke up from a nap, and sometimes you have a bad nightmare, anyway.
But then you have to go to radio and you're not...
So, hopefully, it's going to pick up there.
Guys, I don't know about you, when you have a bad dream...
It was such a real dream, and it was a dream with friends of mine.
People I trust. I was completely...
Like betrayal, you know? I hate to be betrayed.
Friend Antoine briefs a sleepy Jean Claude on what to expect tonight.
And it's mainly music,
Iike er...groove,
hip-hop, you know, some good music for the young audience.
1 5 to 35, OK?
So, you could have one host, two girls, on the table, and they're gonna ask you questions.
You're gonna, maybe, play a game.
- The girls are beautiful? - I don't know.
Hey, guys. How are you? Ã‡a va?
Jean Claude.
Yeah. Yes.
OK.
- OK. Thank you. - Merci beaucoup.
Thank you.
Hello. How are you? I'm here.
Fun Radio lives up to its name.
They even have a blow-up doll.
Oh, it's a guy. It looked like a girl.
- Are we in? - Oui.
Sandra propositions the married Jean Claude to kiss her live on air.
Never one to bottle out of a challenge, he puts his acting skills to good use.
Oh, lÃ lÃ !
Regarde, regarde, regarde!
Oh!
Je marie.
Te marie?
Trois, quatre...
But the next task is more up his street.
He wants to do some sparring.
I'm going to... I'm going to let him kick me.
Jean Claude's opponent is armed with nunchucks.
Attention.
But he's no match for the martial arts master.
Oh!
Merci. Merci.
Very courageous.
Considering he'd just woken up from a nightmare,
Jean Claude's evening has really turned around.
It was cool. Good relationship with the people.
I told you, it may work out, may not, and it was cool.
But it's not over yet.
He's so popular here, the paparazzi want extra photos for their own albums.
Merci beaucoup.
Jean Claude 's in Paris,
and he 's heading to the world famous Moulin Rouge.
Let's go right away, guys.
Bonsoir.
Comment va-tu?
He's greeted with VlP access that any man would dream of.
We're going to the back doors,
to see all those beautiful girls.
OK. This is Georgia, Jolene and Galina.
OK. Georgia.
- Hello. Nice to meet you. - From Australia.
Australia.
- All Australia? - No. Russia.
Russia. OK.
Yeah. I go to Russia a lot.
Russia and Ukraine.
And this is the people working here.
Behind all the curtains. They have to arrange everything.
It's a real combination.
Time for a souvenir photo.
One more, please.
- Good. Thank you. - Thank you so much.
I will see you on stage.
- Yeah. Enjoy the show. - OK. Thank you so much.
Bye-bye.
If you want to look at me, I will have the hat.
I already signed my name, so say hello to me.
- Enjoy. - Bye.
Moulin Rouge. The best.
I've watched many of his films with my father.
It's the best place in Paris.
Out front, an audience of nearly 1, 000 are waiting for the show to start,
and Jean Claude wants to keep a low profile.
We go fast. We go fast. Let's go fast.
We follow. We follow.
Super. OK.
I was shy, because...
I walk with the audience, together,
and people, they look like... so I get shy.
But there's one person he is pleased to see. His friend Alexander.
He came all the way from Ukraine,
via private jet, of course,
to see me here, as a friend. A real friend.
And before long, he's made a couple more friends.
Yes. Thank you so much.
C'est beau.
Moi aussi. Moi aussi.
Allez.
Allez, allez.
Thank you. Thank you. Antoine...
Tell them, Antoine, please, I want to be on my own sometimes.
It's going down. It's going down.
? The Cancan
Fantastic.
Lots of girls from Eastern Bloc there.
Beautiful ladies, huh?
Moulin Rouge.
Taller than me.
Smarter than me.
Around them, I feel like a loser.
It's midnight, and Jean Claude heads to a local nightclub,
where celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson is on the decks.
Jean Claude 's on a roll, and there 's no stopping him tonight.
Madam. Where's Madam?
Madam isn 't a woman. It's another club.
Six in the morning.
With Gladys based in LA, the kids grown up
and Jean Claude's work schedule taking him all over the world,
the family have little time together.
It's just the way it is,
and you have to be the patient wife, I guess, and the patient mom,
to kind of, like, know how to deal with this.
And I have a strong stomach to do so.
Her visit to their first family home has got Gladys thinking about the past.
There 's somewhere else she wants to check out.
We're going to Cafe 50's.
It's the place where JC and I went to our first date.
And um...a sweet date.
So, it'll be fun to reminisce.
It's so odd to be here.
It's so long. I'm talking about...
wow, 23, 24 years ago.
You be good, huh?
It's here.
That's so funny.
Ironically, this is the seat that JC and I sat in,
because we liked to sit way in the back, in the corner.
We were laughing all the time, and you know what he does?
He has these really amazing green eyes.
And I love green eyes.
So, every time I looked into his eyes, I would get this sinking feeling.
Like, I guess it's puppy love.
Right here.
And I would feel my stomach turning and twirling.
I'm like, 'What's that? That's weird.' I never had that, ever.
Ever, ever, ever, ever.
He was always like, up, jumpy.
And I loved that childlike about him.
I really love...and he still has that childlike about him.
Bringing Gladys here to Cafe 50's hadn't been Jean Claude's original plan for their first date.
He really wanted to take me to a really fancy-schmancy place.
He had these white pants,
white tank top, suspenders,
just the muscles.
Can you imagine that? You wanna go into a restaurant that's fancy,
we walk in and everybody's eyes went... You see this guy's muscles.
The protocol was that you had to wear a jacket, and he didn't have one,
so, he goes, 'l know of a great place. It's gonna be relaxed
and very comfortable, and you're gonna love it.'
And you know what? I was so happy that it happened this way,
because I don't like fancy restaurants.
I like simple, you know, easy-going,
non-pretentious ambience. And I like it.
It's kind of odd, but it's strange, cos he's not here.
Hi, sugarpuss. I'm here in Cafe 50's. It's amazing. It's kind of like a bittersweet...
It's very bittersweet, cos I haven't, you know...
It's hard. It's hard.
Sitting here like this brings back all the memories.
I love you very much. And be good.
OK? Be safe.
Bye.
OK.
Let's go eat.
Jean Claude's on a flying visit to the Ukraine.
He's meeting his friend Alexander, who's organised the ultimate boys' day out.
Should be some AK47.
Revolver and guns.
I was in a club called Target Range in the US.
But I was shooting lots of bullets every week.
I was going two, three times a week.
Plus, when you're shooting a movie gun,
it's the same as a real gun.
Except...
nothing comes out of it, except flames.
Me and Alexander, we're gonna make a bet.
Jean Claude has challenged Alexander to a shoot-off in the gun range,
and there 's $ 1 00 on the table for the winner.
Grrr! Taka Taka Takata.
There 's a wide selection of shotguns,
semi-automatics,
and assault rifles.
That's a Colt.45.
Beretta.
Glock.
But Jean Claude 's got his eyes on something with a bit more oomph.
I want this one.
Da-da-da-da-da!
Even Alexander's eight-year-old son is a regular at the gun range.
And Jean Claude 's in fighting spirit.
I like to fight him. He's so small.
This way. Movie angle.
- Hey, don't mess with me. - Huh?
What?
Oh!
He's fired up and ready to take on his friend.
Seasoned pro Alexander is up first with a Kalashnikov.
And he 's hit the target.
This is good for a Kalashnikov, because it kicks too much.
I could see it. But I never did that Kalashnikov stuff.
.45 Colt.
It's Jean Claude's turn, with a handgun.
Normally, I shoot with Beretta.
He's completely missed the target.
Alexander puts rivalry to one side, and offers a few tips.
Don't wait shoot. Just do like this.
Don't wait when...boom.
I'm losing $1 00.
And now time for Alexanderjunior to show Jean Claude how it's done.
Oh-ho! Look at the son of Alexander shooting.
Look at this.
Your son is amazing, huh? He's so young.
But it's never too late for a comeback,
and Alexander senior thinks Jean Claude might be better suited to a different gun.
Go, with Kalashnikov.
Doesn't matter what you see. Just look...
- And very slowly... - OK.
The Kalashnikov is very new for me.
Shoot him in the head!
Double action.
- Hello. - Not bad, huh?
One, two.
Look at the eyes.
Hello!
I'm proud like a kid.
Always go for the eyes and the mouth. Wargh!
There's one thing Jean Claude appreciates as much as big guns.
So, Alexander's taking him for a local treat.
I love caviar, so the first time he took me here,
it's a place where they have all fish, like a market.
He always buys me some great caviar. Not the black ones, the white ones.
Like, the best of the best.
And it's like a drug, you know.
You have one spoon and then you want more and more and more.
And that's where I go all the time, every time I go to Ukraine he takes me here.
Let's go, Alexander.
The Bessarabsky market is famed for its top-quality caviar.
Now, look at this, guys.
Look at this place.
Hello.
This is the best caviar.
Can I try one piece?
Look at this market.
And these are real people of Ukraine.
- Hello! - Hello.
This is the white, this is the best of the best.
Look at this. Look at that on camera.
- You want to try? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Good?
Bonjour.
Hi...
Oh.
Danke schÃjn.
Thank you.
The price here is less, but it's still very, very expensive.
A box like this costs how much, Alexander?
$980.
But if you buy this in a caviar shop,
it can go for, like, $1,400.
$1,500 US.
For one box. It's amazing, isn't it?
I'm very lucky to have a friend like that.
But I should not take advantage,
but my stomach is betraying.
A little.
Spaciba, Alexander, thank you.
Spaciba! Paka!
Got to go. Got to go. I go.
$1,000.
You don't find this because those are not from the farm.
They're still swimming in the ocean, and they're very deep.
This is amazing.
With lemons, onions, ahh!
It's the best.
For Gladys, looking back over the past has been an emotional journey.
But despite the ups and downs,
the children 's wellbeing has always been her priority.
I'm very attached with my kids,
to the point where I really miss them.
When they're gone... I know I have to let them go,
make a movie, and they have to...
Life is moving on now, things are changing.
As the kids grow up, Gladys is determined they won't make the same mistakes as their dad.
Look, this is what I see.
To make it, it's not so easy,
but to make it through without touching any drugs,
that's a big plus, you know?
So, knowing the history of their dad and all that,
it could easily follow through.
But make sure that,
as grounded as I could keep them,
it worked.
And I'm still doing this.
Cos never say never, right, as they say.
JC. Hello.
Sugarpuss. Where's your camera?
- Hi, baby. - Wait a minute. Where's your camera?
I wanna see your face.
- Can you hear me? - Yeah.
Sugar, you've been tired and busy?
Yeah. Very tired and very busy.
You know what? Every time I talk to you, you light me up.
- I feel alive again. - I love you.
You have true guts.
I love you.
- No, really... - You still give me...
Every time I see you, you always give me that certain tickle in the stomach,
even from the day we met.
I don't know why that happens, but it's because maybe I love you.
After all I've done bad to you, and you still...
- Nothing. No. - You being with me, I don't get it.
I love you. That's all I know, is that I love you very much.
- No, really, baby... - You're my best friend, so...
- You are behind me all the time. - Yeah.
- You're always in the shadows... - Because I understand you, babe.
I understand why it is the way things happen. I understand.
You are exceptional. I don't know if Bianca will take that shit from a guy.
- Absolutely not. - No, she won't.
And I know many ladies that will not do it.
You're a miracle to my life.
- She did everything, Bianca. - I know.
That's why sometimes you're upset at me because I messed up in life,
and hopefully, everything will be forgiven,
and Gladys will always forgive me,
because she knows we're gonna live and die together.
Yeah. Absolutely.
Cool. And I will see you soon.
Look at my eyes. And I will see you soon.
- Whatever. We'll do some good stuff. - OK. Super.
- All right. - I love you, sugar plum.
- I love you, girls. - I love you, sugarpuss.
Bye-bye. Love you.