Within the new Amazon collection Jean-Claude Van Johnson, action star Jean-Claude Van Damme makes an attempt to relaunch his profession by enjoying a fictionalized model of himself.
Within the present, Jean-Claude goes to Bulgaria to star in a movie which has been set-up to permit him to undertake covert missions for the company as his alter-ego identify Jean-Claude Van Johnson.
This would possibly all appear a bit acquainted, for a few causes. After all, it’s not the primary time that hyper-flexible jaw-punter Van Damme has relaunched his profession by enjoying a fictionalized model of himself. 2008’s wonderful JCVD, the place he performs a down-on-his-luck model of himself who will get caught up in a financial institution heist, is maybe the well-known instance of the ever-splitsing Belgian enjoying himself.
In The Expendables 2 Jean-Claude Van Damme performs villainous heart-stabber Jean Vilain, which isn’t explicitly a model of himself however does, in its personal, er, refined means, commerce on his actual life id.
You would possibly discover his appearances in Coors beer ads and a actuality tv collection much less pleasing from a “kicking bastards proper within the chops” perspective, however each gave JCVD a profile increase.
Secondarily, although, John-Claude Van Johnson can be acquainted in its illustration of action stars. It attracts from the way in which action stars attempt to blur the road between their movie roles and their off display screen lives.
Let’s begin with Steven Seagal, who seems to imagine himself the human equal to one of many penguins from Madagascar. Seagal is legit Aikido blackbelt and it was his off-screen credibility that distinguished him as an action star to be reckoned with in his heyday. But, Seagal’s relationship with actuality has at all times raised questions.
Can we actually belief that his just lately adopted New Orleans drawl isn’t an affectation adopted to promote his blues album? Extra fantastically, Seagal has claimed to have completed work with the CIA.
His ex-wife insists he’s made it up, and also you’d suppose she is perhaps onto one thing as a result of it sounds just like the action movie star model of a panicked job interview response: “I’ve a lot expertise with that program. I truly used to show individuals easy methods to use it, but it surely’s not on my CV as a result of it was high secret as a result of they have been individuals from… the CIA?”.
Sylvester Stallone, in the meantime, has at all times insisted that the forged of the Rocky movies pummel one another mindless within the identify of making actual struggle scenes, which is one thing to speak up within the press when selling the movies and makes Stallone look a extra convincing powerful man.
Stallone was famously hospitalised by Dolph Lundgren in the course of the making of the terrifc Rocky IV. Arnold Schwarznegger may not be a fighter, however his ruthless look within the 1977 documentary Pumping Iron ought to dissuade anybody from eager to cross him in the true world.
Chuck Norris is a famend Karate champion and his off-screen toughness is unquestionable. However even the grasp of the gradual movement leaping spin kick (in the course of the common Norris movie leaping spin kick you can also make a cup of tea and a few toast within the time between take off and henchman demise) might have discovered his relationship with actuality frayed. Right here’s a quote from Norris’ autobiography:
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