Jean Claude! Jean Claude!
Jean Claude Van Damme.
Yah!
Martial arts legend...
Nice kick, huh?
..action hero.
His movies have grossed over $700 million
in a career spanning over 25 years.
But now it's time to discover the real man behind the macho image...
I've got nothing to hide any more.
..as he allows cameras total access into his extraordinary world.
This is an intimate portrait...
Love you, baby.
of an international movie star as you have never seen him before.
I don't see Sly or Steven Seagal doing that.
We're up close and personal as he bares his soul.
The world is going bad. Everything is dying around us.
I believe the end is soon.
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.
Everybody, thank you so much.
We follow Jean Claude on the latest leg of his gruelling schedule...
..as he jets across the globe.
- Can you do a loop with this plane? - We can do it, yes.
Taking on the bad guys...
That is my head.
..and turning on the charm.
They have the most beautiful woman on earth.
But the glare of the media spotlight pushes him to the edge.
Hey, cut the camera. Enough, enough.
And plans for his comeback fight are thrown into crisis.
Scary stuff.
Maybe I'm 50 but I will be a warrior,
so I know my family will love me.
Bucharest, Romania.
Jean Claude's in town to shoot action movie Weapon.
He's in his final few days of filming,
comes to blows with violent henchman Telly...
This is how it looks before I'm in a fight with JC.
..played by Attila Ãrpa.
Watch how it's gonna look afterwards.
Before the cameras roll, each move is blocked out with a stunt co-ordinator.
A big punch.
But after 25 years in the business, Jean Claude 's a bit of an expert himself.
Bam! Like that. Then what do I do?
Then he's gonna collapse a bit on one knee. And...
He's very involved in the fight scene.
It's not, 'Jean Claude, you do this, you do that.'
He likes to make it more real.
Like this, right? And then whatever you want to destabilise him.
This would work, like that.
He actually hits.
He really does.
Quick reaction. Good.
As the crew breaks from rehearsal, Jean Claude heads back to the trailer.
He's worried his performance may have been a little too convincing...
Come, Kris.
..and summons his son Kristopher.
I felt so bad when I hit him.
When you punch a guy in the ribs, he's supposed to move,
and he's just still, like that.
He's supposed to go with it.
It's not like a real fight.
My father touched him too hard in the rib cage.
When he gives everything he has, I guess he can touch too hard.
Also, the passion wreaks out.
Yeah, of course.
Why?
That's nice, but it's really not necessary.
Give me your number anyway because he wants to.
All right. Great, sure.
He's a good guy, got a big heart, but I think he's got some breathing trouble.
I wish he would have told me what he's gonna do,
which kicks and punches.
Then it would have hurt less, maybe.
Do you want a chocolate?
Not me.
They're from Belgium.
Scriptwriter Sheldon Lettich has worked closely with Jean Claude since Bloodsport in 1 988,
the film that launched the 'Muscles from Brussels'.
- Nice packaging, huh? - Mm-hm.
You'd think that there'd be a fancy wristwatch in here.
Or a sci-fi fighter.
Tsssh!
- The death ray comes out of there. - No, no, the seating position.
Tsssh!
It's the van of the future.
Ten minutes later, Jean Claude's back down to earth and back on set to film the scene.
This time round, Attila is well and truly braced and the cameras roll.
And...action!
Are you strangling me?
It's in the can and Attila lives to tell the tale.
Don't go. Attila?
It's good. It's fast.
- Very good. - Thanks.
You make me look good.
With filming wrapped in Romania,
Jean Claude catches up with his daughter Bianca
and talks her through his plans for the next few months.
- Do you know the schedule? - No.
It's important, Bianca. Sit down.
But when your dad is Jean Claude Van Damme,
things aren't so simple.
I'm doing the commercial for Sony Australia.
1 st or 2nd October I come back to Belgium.
In October I go to Louisiana.
The 1 6th, 1 7th I'm flying back to Belgium.
Then you're flying with Mama to HK. Ah! One more thing.
When I come back from Hong Kong to go to Europe to do Dragon Eyes with Da Silva,
you're gonna go back with Mama to Los Angeles.
- Does Mum know this? - Yeah.
So she can send me a paper so I have a schedule.
- I understand everything but... - You have it here.
How can people not understand this schedule?
Brussels, Belgium.
Jean Claude's back in his home town to undergo a series of medical tests.
25 years of high-kicking fight scenes have taken their toll on the action hero.
Every time I make a kick, the next day I'm limping.
It's like a knife inside your hip, like an abscess there.
Today's tests are critical for Jean Claude.
He preparing to step back into the ring to fight competitively for the first time in 30 years.
Before he hit the Hollywood bigtime, Jean Claude was a champion martial artist
who clocked up an impressive 20 knockouts in his short career.
Now he wants to prove he can be the lean, mean fighting machine he once was.
Three decades on, he faces a formidable opponent -
38-year-old Olympic gold medallist Somluck Kamsing.
To beat him, he 's relying on the force of his legendary kicks.
This will depend on the fight between me and Somluck.
With my fists only I will be unable to beat him.
He will knock me down.
Jean Claude has come to the renowned Uz Brussels University hospital.
Today, it's make or break for him.
He wants to know if he 's medically fit to fight.
If not, his dream of returning to the ring ends right here.
Son Kristopher has come for support.
- Do you want me to be with you or not? - Come.
- Want me to go with you? - Yeah. It's OK. One of you.
It's good that I'm here with him, and that he's with me.
The doctors take some initial X-rays of Jean Claude's hips and knees.
It's like Universal Soldier.
Next, an MRl scan will give doctors a much more detailed picture of Jean Claude 's joints.
Scary stuff.
For Kris, the upcoming fight is becoming a reality.
This stuff makes me nervous after a while.
The clichés are his age, or his body, is not used to this type of impact any more.
We're just pure support.
That's what's important - pure support.
DOCTOR: Normally, you don't move any more.
- I don't go inside? - It stays like this.
You're looking at what's underneath the smooth-moving machine
everybody admires in the films.
This is it. It's pretty cool.
I'm sure he's fallen asleep by now.
Looks pretty crashed out.
This way.
- Thank you, doctor, so much. - You're welcome.
I fell asleep. Amazing.
I never thought I could sleep on my back.
Over the next few days, the doctors will analyse all the images
and assess the extent of any injury.
- Thank you. - Bye-bye.
Bye, ma'am. Thank you.
In Los Angeles, another Van Damme is preparing for a fight.
Jean Claude's daughter Bianca is in training for an upcoming screen test.
She 's already appeared in three films alongside her famous dad,
but now she wants to go it alone and be recognised in her own right.
I like kickboxing.
I like um... I like hitting things.
She's auditioning for a part in action movie Mortal Kombat,
and wants the producers to know she's got what it takes.
She always kicks me in the... almost.
OK, OK.
- That's it for today. - Yeah.
With the audition just eight weeks away, Bianca still has a way to go.
Yes, I feel like shit.
Jean Claude is very famous for his leg kicks, flexibility and he's very powerful.
Bianca is powerful, but I want her to work more on the control of her legs, her kicks.
It's in the blood. You have good genes. Come on.
Look at the mum, look at the dad.
- All right, Julian. - Stretching, huh.
Growing up under the roof of my dad I never even saw him as something big.
I never came to the conclusion that he was.
I'd go to school sometimes and people would say, 'l saw your dad on TV '.
It can be hard having him as my father
because a lot of people are fake.
Sometimes they can hurt you if you don't be careful.
I do shy away from a lot of people because I don't want them to know my personal issues.
I just have really one real friend.
I can't even count them on my one hand.
I have a couple of friends that are close, and that's it.
Mum Gladys also feels the strain of life in the public eye.
We always fear someone trying to benefit out of JC's fame.
Which is sad, but it happens.
We want people to like us because of who we are as people.
We are people. Just because he decided to have a job as an actor,
and he made it from it,
doesn't mean that we should be treated any different.
This afternoon, Gladys and Bianca are heading to Sunset Boulevard.
Do you think dogs check out other dogs?
Of course they do.
Do you think Peace will see a girl dog and think she's good-looking?
Of course, if it's a female dog.
Bianca's thought of the perfect way to honour her family name
with a very personal tattoo.
My dad's original name is Van Varenberg.
- What is it? Dutch? - Yeah.
In Dutch it means "mountain fern".
My brother researched that.
Now we each have our own fern that he designs.
It's become a family thing now.
I'm not nervous of how much it will hurt,
because I can tolerate pain really well.
I'm pretty cool. Yeah.
It's gonna be...
Bianca unveils the family emblem.
..this one.
- Is this the size you're thinking? - Yeah.
- lt'll fit perfectly here. - Mm-hm.
- Tough at this size. - Yeah.
- It would be better like this.
The ankle.
But I will get as much of the detail on there as possible.
OK.
Great tattoos. Wow.
Kris's girlfriend Elari is also in town,
and drops by to see the design come to life.
- I'm not scared. - I know.
OK, that might hurt a little bit.
- All right? - Mm-hm.
Ow!
Do you know what that feels like? When I was pregnant, having you.
I'm never having a child.
I bit Daddy on the hand. He had a big bite. From the pain.
It has a great abstract feel to it.
Dad is gonna love it.
I'm gonna take one picture of it and I'm gonna send it to him.
Oh!
My armpit's kinda sweating.
I love it.
Bye, ladies. Thank you.
- Oh, my ankle hurts. - No, but you're good.
Oh, God, it hurts.
In Belgium, Jean Claude's back in the hospital.
His return to the ring is only months away.
Today he'll discover the extent of the damage to his hips,
and any impact it may have on his fight techniques.
Ã‡a va?
It's a critical day for his trainer Claude, too.
Friend Max is here for support,
and Claude 's assistant Fred has also joined them.
- Doctor, how are you? - Fine, thank you.
The professor is an orthopaedic expert
in the treatment and rehabilitation of injuries to the knees and hips.
Over the past few days he 's analysed the scans
and there are some areas of concern.
All these years you have been doing movements that were not ideal for the hip
and that can cause repetitive small damages to the hip.
This needs to be avoided in the future, to avoid further damage.
It's done really in that plane.
Crossing over will be quite toxic to the hip, actually.
One of Jean Claude's trademark high kicks must be ruled out for the fight.
So we're gonna change the movement of how to arm,
and this and that,
which is essential.
Going from the side and crossing over to the other side,
that's a movement that should be avoided.
That's the famous movement that you have been doing for a long time.
Because it's more impressive on the camera.
- Yes, but it's more damaging for the hip. - For sure. OK.
It's a blow.
The roundhouse kick is one of the most explosive weapons in Jean Claude's armoury.
We have to change everything.
The direction of kicking, so it's new muscles,
and then I've got a problem on the inside,
when I kick those famous mawashi geri.
I said: Are you going to train me hard? He said: Even more than that.
He's going to have to close the doors. And what else?
It's gonna be terrific... It's gonna be...
..very terrible.
Yeah. It's gonna be hell.
For Jean Claude, facing Somluck Kamsing in the ring is the biggest challenge he's everfaced.
But now the stakes are even higher.
He must go back to basics and learn a new style of kicking.
With his reputation on the line, failure is not an option.
I need to win, I have to win this fight. If I don't win, it's a catastrophe for me.
He will have no pity on me,
so I've got to train my head to just being a killer.
Not like in a movie. It's like being a killer.
Any chance I've got to nail him, I've got to take it right away.
I've got to go for it, really go for it.
Jean Claude's in Belgium.
Today, he's on his way to the airport to catch a flight to the Ukraine.
He 's been invited as special guest to a charity fashion show,
and he 's travelling in style.
- Can you do a loop with this plane? - We can do it, yes.
We don't do it with passengers.
Cool.
Mama? I'm going to fly soon.
Jean Claude has a pre-flight ritual of calling all his loved ones before take-off.
Hi, baby, I love you. I'm flying now.
OK, Papa. I love you.
I will call you from Ukraine. Bye.
Look at that sunset. Amazing.
What a planet, huh?
Welcome to Kiev.
Thank you, Eric. Good job, good flying.
After his VlP landing in the Ukraine,
Jean Claude heads to his hotel for some rest before tomorrow's big event.
Guys.
The next morning he meets up with his friend Alexander Onischenko,
who 's organised tonight's event.
So this is my friend Alexander, for the people.
To me, I can call him Sasha.
He's doing lots of good for the country.
Alexander is a successful entrepreneur
who's keen to put the Ukraine on the world stage.
He's working too hard. I told him to take it easy.
He's always on the phone, many businesses.
During the interview, Jean Claude's asked if he's familiar with any local customs.
I know one tradition.
If I touch the shoes of a Ukrainian person,
they have to touch me back, right?
I made a mistake when I was giving a hug to Mr Vladimir Putin
and I touched his shoes.
He touched my shoes back.
So I touched again.
I thought it was a game, and then I understood.
That's right. A friend in Ukraine told me: Be careful. It's bad luck.
It was kind of funny.
Alexander's also organised a special after party for tonight
to celebrate Jean Claude's recent 50th birthday.
I don't know what he's going to do, what the surprise is.
He promised me a party.
Do we go in the Mercedes, the Ferrari, the Rolls-Royce?
Which one?
- Jeep. - I take the Jeep?
I have this one to choose, and that one to choose.
Opting for the Mercedes, they make their way to the press conference for tonight's fashion show.
Alexander needs Jean Claude 's superstar status to raise the event's profile.
Nice to meet you.
Tonight is the big catwalk finale to Fashion Week,
attended by Ukraine 's glitterati.
We are all in black. How did we co-ordinate this?
Famous Czech model Karolína Kurková will be strutting her stuff.
I feel like I'm in Paris.
We're bringing a little bit of Paris to beautiful Kiev.
Jean Claude is under the spotlight of over 50 journalists and photographers.
I'm always keen to help those charities,
so thank you so much for inviting me to your beautiful country.
Thank you so much.
Guys, you all come to my birthday, right? OK.
Wham!
Yah!
It's time for the show
and Ukraine's press have flocked to see one of their favourite Hollywood movie stars.
And everyone wants a piece of him.
- I just got your new email address. - The Hollywood one?
- Hey, how are you? - Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, sir.
It's also a chance for Jean Claude to meet some of Ukraine's most attractive women.
This is the place where all the models are doing their stuff.
How are you doing? Nice to meet you.
You can see. Ukraine is not bullshitting.
They have the most beautiful women on earth.
Good.
It's very difficult to be here for a married man.
That's a beautiful girl.
It's very hard, man, I'm telling you.
I want to see those long legs.
No, I want to see the clothing and everything, joking aside.
? Dance music
Fantastic.
Hello.
You were the one with the black dress all the way down?
- Yes. - Can I have your number?
Jean Claude's been struck by the stage presence of one of the models.
This is the girl I want for the film. Look at her face.
Because you're unbelievable on stage.
I will call you and send you everything.
Look at that face. I'll give you a buzz. I'll call later. OK?
- Thank you so much. - My pleasure. Thank you.
Bye.
On stage she looked amazing.
You never know. Those models can be the next James Bond girl
but she has an amazing face.
Shall I contact you at this phone number?
Yes.
Jean Claude is the big star of the night
and the attention is overwhelming.
Good.
The press are queuing up to speak to him.
Why do you like this country so much?
- Because of you. - My God. Is it true?
What about your movie? You've started shooting in Romania.
Why didn't you shoot it in Kiev?
- So many beautiful dresses. - Dresses, yeah.
- Did you like it? - I think it was perfect.
Are you having your birthday in Kiev tonight?
- Yes. Not in Kiev...
Yeah, I'm sorry.
Jean Claude begins to tire of all the questions.
- But you had a birthday... - This is my dog. Do you like my dog?
Look at my dog.
Anyway, you had your birthday...
Wham. Wham.
- your kids congratulate you... - Wham.
- Do your kids call you and...? - My kids never call me.
Never? Come on.
A very smart question. Of course they call me.
All those questions are so boring.
It's not you. I'm so exhausted to always... talking to the camera and...
Nice to meet you. I've had enough.
Do you mind ifwe take a picture?
It's like a monkey in the zoo.
Right now I want to go home and relax and do some emails.
Bye-bye, darling.
Let's go to the hotel right away.
It's been a difficult evening for Jean Claude.
Why are we going so slow?
The car is broken?
The constant barrage of attention has been too much.
All those people around me don't care about me. It's just because I'm famous.
If I was this guy driving a car they would not talk to me.
It's bad for the audience to see me this way, but why not?
You see the truth.
He heads back to his hotel but he can't go to bed yet.
Alexander has organised a party to celebrate Jean Claude 's 50th birthday,
and there 's a club full of people waiting for him on the other side of town.
There 's only time for a quick shower.
Have a coffee. Relax. 20 minutes.
They're waiting for me for a party and I don't feel like...
Can you believe that? Everybody would like to go to a party for them.
Oh!
I feel like an old... old...
..an old man.
Hello.
The club is hushed as the partygoers wait for Jean Claude's entrance.
It didn't start yet, you see?
Can we go this way?
Ah. I don't want this.
But the waiting crowd only adds to the pressure.
Stop, stop, stop.
Stop.
Always cameras.
Stop, stop, stop. Stop.
Cut the camera, cut the camera.
Enough, enough, enough.
Enough.
Tell them to get out of me.
Go. Get away!
You don't want them to shoot you?
Cut the cameras. Enough, enough.
Enough camera.
Vladimir is the club's owner and a friend of Jean Claude's.
Look, I'm sweating.
Please, stop. Please.
I love you. Please, stop.
I know this.
Two minutes. I'll cool down. Please.
Please.
No, it's OK.
Some champagne?
For me he's a hero, the hero of my childhood.
I don't go on stage.
Please, Max, protect me. I don't want to go on stage.
Jean Claude Van Damme!
? Happy birthday to you
Later, later.
- ? Happy birthday... - ? To you
? Happy birthday to you
? Happy birthday... - I go, I go.
? To you!
Is Mr Jean Claude here?
- No, he's not here. - He is here.
We want to congratulate you.
Happy birthday, Jean Claude Van Damme.
Grab your drink.
You're very strong and you can do it by yourself.
Thank you so much.
Er... what am I supposed to say?
I don't know what else to say, but I'm very happy to be with you here.
Hopefully we'll have enough of the cake for all of us
so don't take too big a piece.
I love you guys. Thank you.
? lNNA: Amazing
? I need you now to take me so far
? I want to run like the speed of sound
? I was somewhere
As part of his birthday treat, pop star lnna performs for Jean Claude.
? Oh-oh
? Oh
Nice arse, huh?
Towards the end of the night, Jean Claude is left alone.
He 's finally able to relax.
My best friend in Ukraine.
The party goes on into the early hours.
Turning 50 has given Jean Claude a chance to reflect on his past.
He wants to put the rock-and-roll lifestyle behind him,
and make the ultimate comeback with victory in the ring.
I want to do something for my ego, a fight where I can win again and be a champion.
That's something for me to clean myself,
to repair the machine,
win or lose situation.
I will be a warrior again.
Maybe I'm 50 but I will be a warrior
so I know my family will love me,
so I can take you with me a second time to success.
We'll be great together. I will bring you the victory.
I love you.
So we are flying by private jet.
Hopefully, we will not crash.
After an exhausting couple of days
Jean Claude is heading back to Belgium.
Bye-bye, Kiev.
Sometimes you're gonna like me, and sometimes you're gonna hate me.
But what can I do?
I want to show you the truth.
I'm not perfect.
I'm an extreme bipolar
and I'm taking medication for this.
I forgot to take it last night because you cannot take that with alcohol.
That's not good.
Before, when I was young - I'm still young, I guess -
but I was suffering with those swing moods.
In the morning the sky was blue going to school.
To me the sky was black and I was so sad.
One day I met a guy called Dr Petrus.
I came to his office and he said: Take these.
It will help you a lot. You're gonna change a lot.
I said: What do you mean?
Take these. You'll be more neutral.
You will never be perfect
but you will have less of an up and down.
Eric?
Can we close the light?
New Orleans, Louisiana.
Jean Claude's in town to shoot his final scenes for action movie Weapon.
Let's shave first. Right away.
Wife Gladys has flown in from LA to see him...
This is all I travelled with.
..and give him a bit of TLC.
Go slow. You move a lot. I don't want to cut you.
You're so secure and confident.
- What happened?
- Did you nick yourself? - Maybe it was a burp. OK?
Shut up.
I wish lots of men can have a wife like that.
The world will go better.
Sorry, girls, but she's special.
I mean, you're also special, but this woman is one of a kind.
- Laundry. - You have nothing in your pockets?
One of a kind.
Like everything in my life, she will be leaving soon.
Baby, you're one of a kind.
Baby, let me take a shower right now.
Does he have a towel in there? Oh, my gosh.
He's worse than a woman.
Freshly groomed and pumped up, Jean Claude's ready for action and arrives on set,
a studio in the outskirts of New Orleans.
This guy's kind of small.
His arms are too small.
So I told him to start training with my special secret.
In one day, he became like this.
The producers are keen to keep their leading man happy,
so they lay on a trailer fit for a movie legend.
So this is the living room.
The fan. Sometimes I do...between, you know?
My speed.
That's the kitchen.
Microwave.
Gas...to cook.
Sometimes I spend the night here.
Hotel is cool but sometimes you're so tired after a show,
you sleep here
and then in the morning, you wake up, you have your shower...
and it's great.
I've done 35 movies
and I spend the night in a trailer not even one day.
- Makeup, makeup, hair. Your name is? - lngrid.
Ingrid. And she has a beautiful baby who is just...two, three years old?
She's six.
- Just a little off. It's all good. - Yeah, yeah.
In today's scene, Jean Claude comes face to face with Hungarian actor Attila Árpa.
Let me see that body of yours. You're in good shape.
Last time they met on set in Romania, Attila felt the full force of Jean Claude 's fist.
Go for it.
This is strong.
I really saw stars.
With the fist, I don't realise the power I've got.
- That's what it is. - Getting kicked by a legend.
Today things are going from bad to worse for Attila.
You want some?
- Ooh! - It's good for you, man.
Have some - before you die.
First I thought the coolest thing is that I am having a one-on-one fighting scene
with Jean Claude Van Damme, the legend, my teenage hero.
Then after he hit me a few times, I reconsidered.
It wasn't that good.
Then here comes the biggest honour
a B-category action star like me can have.
Getting beheaded by Jean Claude Van Damme.
I don't need the force of this right now.
It's the up and the beginning of it. Stop. Yeah.
This time it will not be like on the set, with the punch.
I'm gonna go all the way with the katana.
It's all right. You got insurance. I got one head.
- I'm worried... - Do it only once.
- I'm worried if I say "cut". - We can do it only once.
If I say "cut", no, don't really cut.
"Cut" means stop. OK?
As bad boy Attila waits for a massage,
Jean Claude's character, Brazil, slips in and gives him the chop.
And...action!
Argh!
Now for the close-up.
Action.
Argh!
And cut. Very nice.
For the next shot, things are about to get bloody.
We're about to shoot Telly's head landing after Jean Claude's character's severed his head.
It's hard to get the head to not bounce and look like a fake head,
or to not bounce too much.
We're going to shoot it in reverse.
Start with the head down on the floor and yank it up by invisible wire,
then reverse the shot in post-production.
It'll look like it's falling naturally. And we hope it works.
Three, two, one. Action.
Rock it and go.
Cut.
Time for one final take.
Action!
Argh!
And cut. Very nice.
To be or not to be.
That...is my head.
With the bad guy well and truly defeated, it's a wrap for Jean Claude.
Always travelling.
After a flying visit to New Orleans
Jean Claude and Gladys are headed their separate ways.
You have your phone?
Jean Claude 's flying back to Belgium and Gladys is returning to their home in LA.
His flight leaves in just 55 minutes.
It's touch and go whether he 'll make it in time.
I have to go to the airport. It should be ready.
We have to leave now. Come on, guys.
We're rushing here. Hopefully we're gonna make it.
With a week of high-profile work commitments scheduled in Europe, the pressure's on.
Are we flying with American Airlines? Are we on American Airlines?
Yes.
Can you help me with this?
Sir, we need some help.
They may be running late,
but when you're a Hollywood superstar there's a VlP chaperone to rush you through.
Hold on, hold on. What are you doing?
We can go through these doors here, sir.
I feel like a mother.
My baby's leaving.
He's so nervous. We have to starting walking. Walk, walk, walk.
Take care. Good to see you.
Muscles from Brussels.
He's checked in and should be almost there.
But being an international movie star can be slow going.
Ah!
Shoot!
No, no, no.
- I love you. - And I love you.
I love you, you're going to be fine.
Text me each time you land. OK? You hear me?
That's all good.
- I love you too. - Love you, baby.
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