The man who was born in Brussels in 1960 as Jean-Claude Camille François van Varenberg, or as most people know him, Jean-Claude Van Damme, has had a long and pretty interesting career once you take the time to look into it. He started as a martial artist, which is what obviously introduced him into the film industry and all of the legendary martial arts films, but he didn't just stick to his niche.
While Van Damme is most known for his work in front of the camera in action movies, throughout his career he has expanded into fight choreography, writing, and even producing. The Muscles from Brussels has been appearing in films ever since 1979 and he doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.
So this might be the time to go over the long timeline that is the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme or just JCVD for the sake of convenience.
15 Kickboxing Career
Before Jean Claude Van Damme ever got into the world of acting he was actually a very accomplished kickboxer. Damme holds a 2nd-degree black belt in Karate and had a surprising full carer in Kickboxing. Van Damm had a 44-4 record in Karate and an 18-1 record in Kickboxing.
14 No Retreat, No Surrender
Van Damme got his first named acting role in the 1986 film No Retreat, No Surrender as the film's antagonist Ivan Kraschinsky. Before this film, Van Damme took uncredited or unnamed roles in various films, mainly European ones. One of them actually had him play the role named Gay Karate Man.
13 Original Predator
A little piece of interesting movie trivia you might want to know is the Jean Claude Van Damme was actually supposed to be the man inside the Predator suit in the original film. The suite= itself was very different from the iconic outfit we know today. Before it was less tech-based and seems to be more insect-like. Van Damme eventually turned away from the production.
12 Bloodsport
The movie that really exposed Jean-Claude Van Damme to the North American was Bloodsport. The movie is an 80s martial art classic, taking place on a fight island and being the most over the top thing imaginable. The film recounts the supposed real-life experience of Frank Dux, who JCVD portrays.
11 Kickboxer
Kickboxer is right up there with Bloodsport in terms of being the most famous and iconic JCVD film. In a pretty similar style to Bloodsport, it's a martial arts film where Van Dammes character has to defeat a big scary bad guy in the end. This is also the film that introduced a lot of people in the West to Muay Thai.
10 Double Impact
Double Impact was a bit of an experiment in the early action film. The film's main gimmick was that Jean-Claude Van Damme would play both of the main characters, those characters being Alex Wagner and Chad Wagner. On top of those two roles, he was also a writer, editor, and fight choreographer.
9 Universal Soldier
Universal Soldier is one of the longest-running film series that Jean-Claude Van Damme has been apart of and we will get into one of its sequels in a bit. In this film, Van Damme splits away from his more known role as a martial artist and went more into the action sci-fi genre.
8 Street Fighter
This is probably one of the bigger blemishes on Van Damme's record, but it still gets talked about a lot. Video game film adaptations, with very few exceptions, ever do well critically and Street Fighter: The Movie is no exception. JCVD played Guile, an all-American character, which clashed with Van Damme's thick accent.
7 Friends
You know you've made a name for yourself into the cultural zeitgeist when you've made a cameo as yourself in Friends. On Season 2 Episode 13, of Friends, titled The One After the Superbowl, Van Damme appears as himself, and Rachel and Monica try to compete for his attention after meeting him.
6 Universal Soldier: Regeneration
Nearly 20 years after the release of the original film, Jean-Claude Van Damme reprised his role in the Universal Soldier series as Luc Deveraux. Van Damme wasn't the only one who reprised his role though, as Dolph Lundgren, who appeared in the original film, also reprised his role.
5 Kung Fu Panda
While Van Damme is definitely more known for his live-action appearance in a vast number of films, but he has also lent his voice talent to appear in some animated features. The first time Jean-Claude did this was when he appeared in Kung Fu Panda 2 as Master Croc
4 Expendables
For the vast majority of his films, Jean-Claude Van Damme is the main protagonist or is at least on the side of good. That probably made his appearance in The Expendables series a bit more refreshing as he took on the role of the villain in the second film, playing the character of Jean Vilain, real subtle.
3 Kickboxer: Vengeance
In 2016, Jean-Claude Van Damme returned to the Kickboxer series with its reboot Kickboxer: Vengeance. This time Van Damme would be playing the character of Master Duran and take over the mentor role instead of fighting. Van Damme was also a writer on this film.
2 Kickboxer 2: Retaliation
Jean-Claude Van Damme reprised his role as Master Duran in the sequel in 2018's Kickboxer 2: Retaliation. This film featured a much bigger and more star-studded cast, featuring Mike Tyson, as well as a lot of UFC fighters like Fabricio Werdum, Roy Nelson, and Wanderlei Silva.
1 Minions
The next film that Jean-Claude Van Damme is set to appear in is the next installment of the Despicable Me franchise with Minions: The Rise Of Gru. Van Damme will be playing the role of the character Jean Clawed. Yes, that pun is great and yes he is the guy in the phot with a lobster claw.