- When Van Damme first arrived in Hollywood in the 1980s, his jobs consisted of waiting tables, delivering pizza, driving a taxi, and acting as a bouncer at Woody's Wharf, a bar owned by Chuck Norris in Newport Beach.
- One-time sparring partner of Chuck Norris during the early 80s. Norris eventually cast him in Missing in Action (1984).
- Suffered from mood swings and depressions for years, causing him to seek his refuge in martial arts and drugs. Finally, after several attempts at rehab, he visited a neurologist who diagnosed him with rapid cycling bipolar disorder. With appropriate medication, he has managed to stay off drugs ever since, and he has even remarried his former wife Gladys Portugues.
- He understands Spanish very well because he had a Spanish nanny when he was a boy. He can't speak the language properly as he never studied it. On one occasion he had a interview in Chile and all the questions were asked in Spanish, he understood but replied in English.
- Lives in Hong Kong and Knokke-Heist, Belgium.
- Studied classical ballet for five years
- In 1989, he was sued for willfully gouging the eye of an extra in a sword fight while filming Cyborg (1989).
- Once said he learned to speak English by watching the cartoon The Flintstones (1960).
- His very brief work on the production of Predator (1987) unexpectedly helped him to become an action star. While working as a waiter, van Damme spotted producer Menahem Golan in his restaurant, and did a roundhouse kick for him without spilling a drop from the bowl of soup he had in his hands. Golan was sufficiently fascinated to invite van Damme on an official audition. During the audition, van Damme did his trademark split while balancing on two chairs, which did not impress Golan. While he dismissed him, a friend who had come along mentioned that van Damme had just done Predator (1987) with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Golan went out to check, and as luck would have it, van Damme's name had not yet been removed from the cast sheet. Golan decided to offer him the lead role in Bloodsport (1988) which became van Damme's big break.
- He was the inspiration for the character Johnny Cage from Mortal Kombat (1992), which was initially envisioned as a gaming vehicle for Van Damme, but he and Midway could not come to terms on the costs for using his likeness.
One of Johnny Cage's special moves is doing a split while punching his opponent in the groin, as seen when Van Damme's character, Frank Dux, punches his large sumo opponent in Bloodsport (1988). - Adopted Van Damme as his stage name from one of his friend's father name. He considered it punchy, short and clear than his birth name of Van Varenberg.
- Had auditioned & lobbied hard for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman (1989).
- His fight scenes are so intense that he won't film them in the U.S. for fear of being sued.
- Van Damme compiled a kickboxing record of 18-1-0, with 18 wins by knockout. For all of these fights, he fought under his birth name; Jean-Claude Van Varenberg. Van Damme's only defeat in kickboxing was to France's Etienne Aubry on March 7, 1977 in Marseille, France. Van Damme lost by disqualification when he accidentally kicked Aubry when he was on the canvas. Van Damme was only knocked down once in his career, when he fought Sherman "Big Train" Bergman of the United States in Florida in November 1979. Van Damme arose to knockout Bergman with an ax-kick in 56 seconds of the first round.
- He once stated that, if you can survive a ballet workout, you can survive any other kind of training.
- Van Damme was the original choice to play the title character in Predator (1987) and was part of the production until he was let go. According to Jesse Ventura's book, Van Damme played the Predator (1987) alien until he was replaced by Kevin Peter Hall.
During the movie's production, Van Damme reportedly was not happy that his face would not be shown on camera and that he would only receive an uncredited special effects role. He was also not comfortable in the original alien suit and passed out due to heat exhaustion.
When Stan Winston's new Predator design came in, Kevin Peter Hall replaced Van Damme in the title role. Supposedly, Van Damme has no regrets on backing out of the Predator project. - Although Jean-Claude Van Damme failed to place in either the 1978 or 1979 WAKO World Championships, he was a member of the 1979 Belgium Team when it won the European Team Championships and a European middleweight Karate champion in his late teens. He won at the Hope Cup, the Cup of Antwerp, The Gala International, and The Forest Nationals.
- Refused a three-picture deal that would have earned him 12 million dollar per movie, stating that he wanted 20 million, equal to Jim Carrey's salary at the time.
- Often states Charles Chaplin as the first great action star.
- Won a court case filed against him by martial arts legend Frank Dux, who claimed he collaborated with Van Damme on his 1996 directorial debut The Quest (1996), only for Van Damme to deny him any share of the profits. His evidence was lost in an earthquake. Coincidentally, Van Damme played Dux in his debut Bloodsport (1988).
- He has a 3rd Dan Black Belt in Shotokan Karate and is also trained in Taekwondo, Muay Thai and Kickboxing.
- Formerly, had his own production companies - Long Road Productions / 777 Films Corp.
- Can bench press 166 kg.
- On 13 November 2013, Volvo Trucks released an advertisement on YouTube that shows Van Damme doing the splits while perched with each of his feet on the outer rearview mirrors of one semi-trailer truck and one box truck moving backwards, which Van Damme describes in the commercial as "the most epic of splits". The video quickly went viral around the web, receiving more than 11 million views in three days, 35 million in the first week.
- In his late teens he opened a gym called California Fitness Center.
- On July 10, 2000, Van Damme was sentenced to an anti-drunk driving class, a $1,200 fine, 3 years probation and a 90 day revocation of his license after pleading no contest for a September 23, 1999 DUI arrest in Beverly Hills.
- Films often contain injuries to the groin area. Examples include Bloodsport (1988), Double Impact (1991), Hard Target (1993) and Timecop (1994).
- Inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame, Class of 2020.
- Children: Kris Van Damme (b. 1987) and Bianca Van Damme (b. 1990) with Gladys Portugues; son Nicolas Van Varenberg (b. 1995) with Darcy LaPier.
- He is an animal rights activist.
- Van Damme compiled a karate point fighting record of 44 wins and 4 defeats. He lost twice to Patrick Teugels (Once for the Belgium Lightweight Title), but in their third match, Van Damme broke Teugels nose and stopped him in the first round in 1980.
- He began martial arts training at the age of ten.
- He called out his former bodyguard Chuck Zito on TV for a potential boxing or mixed martial arts bout after a 1998 bar confrontation and a Thai boxer (which was addressed in the reality show Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors), but neither fight ever materialized.
- Van Damme trained and sparred with legendary French Karate, Savate and Kickboxing Champion Dominique Valera in the mid to late 1970s.
- His older sister Veronique wrote a book My brother Jean-Claude.
- Has one older sister Veronique Van Varenberg by 18 months.
- Related to Screenwriter Adam Burnett through marriage.
- Was student of Dominique Valera.
- In the French-speaking world, Van Damme is well known for the picturesque aphorisms that he delivers on a wide range of topics (personal well-being, the environment, etc.) in a sort of Zen franglais.
- In January 2017, Van Damme featured in an Ultra Tune television advert which was part of a controversial series of ads. Two women were confronted in a car park by a gang of youths in a threatening manner, Van Damme appears to defend them and then the mood lightens and they take pictures with the star.
- Born on exactly the same date as Happy Days (1974) star Erin Moran.
- He is mentioned in the "Bob's Burgers" episode "Steal Magazine-olias", which aired on May 9, 2021.
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