JCVD vs. Predator: The Untold Off-Camera Showdown That Hollywood Tried to Bury!
Added on September 1, 2025 inEntertainment News Cards, Movie News Cards
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What if Jean-Claude Van Damme’s star-studded journey to fame had started not with a legendary roundhouse kick but with a too-tight, steamy monster suit that made him pass out on set? Yeah, turns out the “Muscles from Brussels” nearly became a very different kind of creature in the iconic 1987 film Predator—and not the box office hero we know today. With Mercury in retrograde, it feels like the universe itself was messing with JCVD’s cosmic choreography, sidelining him for a costume fiasco that almost derailed his break into Hollywood. So, how did a journey that began with gruelling stunt work and training alongside Chuck Norris twist into an almost lost role beneath layers of rubber and wires? And if the stars had aligned differently—would we even recognize Predator as the sci-fi thriller classic it is today, or would we be chuckling at a “lizard with the head of a duck?” Dive deep into Jean-Claude’s unexpected detour through Hollywood’s jungle gym, and decide—was getting fired the best thing that ever happened to the diamond-hard kickboxer? LEARN MORE
There’s an urban legend about Jean-Claude Van Damme that’s been floating around for years. The story goes that JCVD was working as a waiter when Cannon Films head Menahem Golan walked in. To impress him, Van Damme supposedly threw a roundhouse kick an inch from his face, wowed him on the spot, and walked away with a movie contract—leading to Bloodsport.
It didn’t quite happen that way. Van Damme’s rise to fame—the “Muscles from Brussels” story—was much slower and included an unexpected detour through one of the biggest action movies of the ’80s: Predator.
But wait—if you’ve seen Predator, you know the man inside the iconic monster suit was Kevin Peter Hall, not JCVD. So what happened?
In 1982, Jean-Claude moved from Brussels to the U.S. with his best friend Michel Qissi (who later played Tong Po in Kickboxer). The pair were martial artists in Europe but couldn’t catch a break in Hollywood, taking on menial jobs and bit parts.
In fact, you can spot them as extras in Cannon Films’ Breakin’, cheering on a breakdancing competition—an ironic start considering Cannon would later launch Van Damme’s career.
Van Damme’s first real break came when he met Chuck Norris, then Cannon’s top action star. The two trained together, and footage even exists of JCVD holding pads for Norris. Working as Norris’s assistant helped Van Damme get on the stunt team for Missing in Action, likely earning him his SAG card.
Soon after, he scored villain roles in No Retreat, No Surrender (a Hong Kong-produced film directed by Corey Yuen) and Black Eagle alongside Sho Kosugi. Both films were modest hits, but leading-man status still seemed far off.
Then came Predator. Van Damme was hired to play the alien monster—his supposed Hollywood debut. But he lasted only two days on set.
According to Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semlyen, Van Damme was shocked to learn he’d be completely covered in a bulky suit. Co-writer Jim Thomas recalled, “I think he thought he was going to be the hero. He kind of erupted when they asked him to get into the suit. It was disastrous.”
Van Damme later said the costume made it impossible to perform martial arts or even breathe properly. “It’s boiling hot,” he recalled. “I started to panic. When Joel asked me to jump, I said, ‘This is impossible. We’re going to have a problem.’ Then he replaced me.”
Bill Duke, who played Mac, backed him up:
“The original Predator was much smaller, with a stealth suit and wires to make him ‘fly’ in the trees. Van Damme passed out twice from dehydration. The producer told him, ‘If you pass out again, you’re fired.’ Two weeks later, he passed out again—and they fired him.”
The suit Van Damme wore wasn’t the one Kevin Peter Hall would later make famous. The original design looked, as director John McTiernan put it, “like a lizard with the head of a duck.”
He recalled, “It was awful… it came in a box, and Joel Silver and I looked at it and said, ‘We’re in deep trouble.’”
Ultimately, the creature was completely redesigned by Stan Winston—with James Cameron suggesting the iconic mandibles. The final version became one of cinema’s most legendary monsters.
Had Van Damme stayed, we might have been stuck with a laughable-looking Predator—and no classic movie.
Being fired turned out to be a blessing. Cannon finally gave JCVD the lead in Bloodsport, though the initial cut was so bad it almost went straight to video. Van Damme personally helped re-edit the film, which became a hit and launched his career.
Even then, Cannon didn’t fully believe in him, dumping him in the low-budget Cyborg. Luckily, when Cannon went bankrupt, MGM picked up one of his films—Death Warrant—helping kick off his early-’90s heyday.
As for Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger went on to superstardom, while Van Damme and Chuck Norris would later appear together in The Expendables 2.
Fun fact: Steven Seagal almost starred in Predator 2 as a martial-arts-trained psychologist—but his script ideas were so wild the studio replaced him with Danny Glover.
Would film history have been different if Jean-Claude Van Damme had stayed on as the Predator? Probably. But given how terrible that original suit looked, we might not even be talking about Predator today.
What do you think? Would JCVD’s version have worked—or was getting fired the best thing that ever happened to him?
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