Want to know why Jean Claude Van Damme was fired from Predator? The actor was initially cast to play the alien trophy hunter. But, later, he got replaced by Kevin Peter Hall. What was the reason behind this switch? That’s our main concern.
Jean Claude Van Damme is a professional martial artist and a fight choreographer. Besides that, he is also a versatile actor, known majorly for his portrayal in Universal Soldier. We saw him as Luc Deveraux. Some of Jean Claude Van Damme’s other acting credits are- Black Water, The Bouncer, The Last Mercenary, Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Haters, etc.
Hailing from Belgium, Jean Claude Van Damme is now 62 years old. He is also known as “The Muscles from Brussels.” When it comes to his style, he excels in karate, kickboxing, and taekwondo. Did you know this earlier?
Directed by John McTiernan, Predator is a science-fiction film, released in 1987. The story focuses on how Dutch, a soldier of fortune, with his team of commandos, rescues a group of people trapped in Guatemala. However, the mission doesn’t get so easy as they encounter a deadly predator. That’s when the story becomes more interesting.
Coming back to Jean Claude Van Damme’s departure from Predator, he had his reason. Initially, he didn’t get an idea of what his role was, or what he had to deal with, on the set. Things got unbearable for him, following which he made his exit. What went wrong? Here is what we know about why Jean Claude Van Damme was fired from the show.
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Reason Behind Jean Claude Van Damme Getting Fired From Predator Explained
As mentioned earlier, Jean Claude Van Damme understood his role after several days. It was in the late 1980s when he became very prominent in the industry as an action star. Well, it was not easy for him to act like an alien trophy hunter or deal with whatever he had to, on the set of Predator. He was never a part of the special ops team in the show.
The major problem Jean Claude Van Damme had with playing the role of a Predator was its costume. It was too heavy and hot, which made him unable to breathe at times. He used to complain about it a lot. The actor was also alleged to have complained about appearing only with the costume on. Jean Claude Van Damme was not pleased with that as he wanted people to know that he was the one playing Predator. In other words, he wanted everyone to see his handsome face. Because of this, it was also reported that he destroyed the mask on purpose. He failed to adjust and finally decided to walk off from the set of Predator.
The shooting of Predator took place in Mexico. At that time, it was very hot there. Jean Claude Van Damme used to complain not just once but many times about the massive outfit. Initially, the team told him that he would be given a leotard to wear, which turned out to be false.
Concerning the outfit, Jean Claude Van Damme shared that his head and hands were in the neck and the forearms, respectively. Many cables were attached to his fingers to move the creature’s head and jaws. He addressed it to be a “disgusting” outfit. He felt like he had enough and couldn’t take more.
Conflicts rose as Jean Claude Van Damme was reported to be fired from Predator. He didn’t make his exit from the show, on his will. Because of the outfit, the actor found it difficult to breathe. Following him getting highly dehydrated, he lost his senses a couple of times. The producer of Predator got pissed and warned if it happened then, then he would fire him. Jean Claude Van Damme got mad at him and told him that it was not intentional, but he was dehydrated. The same thing happened a few more times, and that was when he got fired.
Jean Claude Van Damme was also reported to get fired from Predator for doing kickboxing on the set. The actor was asked to stop, but he refused. Overall, he had conflicts with the producer, be it for the outfit or kickboxing. He didn’t feel like he got respect on the set. However, Jean doesn’t have any hard feelings for that.
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