Why did Jean-Claude Van Damme turn down "The Expendables"...

[Neil]

http://www.cinemablend.com/images/news/15125/_1255034318.jpg

Not like he has much else to do?

I would have thought appearing in a $70M Hollywood film could only be good for him?

[Danny]

i think its because they only wanted him if they could get segal as well and theyd be a double act so to speak, which is absurd and the world would vaporise instantly if they ever get within 4 feet of each other.

[bassman]

Because there was already just too much awesome and they couldn't squeeze him in?:p

Screw Van Damme....why did Kurt Russell back out?

[Neil]

i think its because they only wanted him if they could get segal as well and theyd be a double act so to speak, which is absurd and the world would vaporise instantly if they ever get within 4 feet of each other.

Yeh, suppose to be some big issue between Segal and Van Damme isn't there? Didn't Van Damme challenge him to a fight?


EDIT:-


Action stars JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME and STEVEN SEAGAL came to blows in the late 1990s - after a row over which man was more tough. The pair squared up to one another at a party hosted by fellow action star Sylvester Stallone, in a bid to settle which actor could "kick the other's ass". Stallone tells British magazine FHM, "At a party in my home in Miami in 1997, Van Damme was tired of Seagal claiming he could kick his ass so he offered Seagal outside into my back yard. "Seagal made his excuses and left. But Van Damme, who was berserk, tracked him down at a nightclub and offered him out again." The pair's fight never materialised, but Stallone is confident who would have triumphed in the brawl. He adds, "Van Damme was too strong. Seagal wanted none of it."

[MoonSylver]

From Total Film:


Van Damme claims that Stallone was just interested in pitching money and action, not story. We've heard that The Expendables will have a lot of action, but as for story, at this point, who cares if it doesn't have an Oscar worthy story? "Stallone gave me a part in his next movie," JCVD told Total Film. "But I ask him about the subject, about the story. He said, 'You're gonna make lots of money.' I don't want to hear that, I want to hear what was my character. He was unable to tell what it's going to be. [Stallone said:] 'You know, uh, well, the fighting will be good.' [So I said:] 'Sly, what is my character?' So I didn’t do the movie."

[kortick]

Segal has a big mouth, I am not surprised
if he ran from Van Damme.

Years ago when filming Under Siege, Segal was
getting rough with the extras.

Gene Lebell told him to stop it and Segal got in his
face, so Lebell threw Segal in a choke hold and
put him to sleep and made him piss his pants.

Segal woke up yelling and the studios got an
order for no one to discuss it, but its one of
the worst kept secrets in Hollywood.

[MoonSylver]

Segal has a big mouth, I am not surprised
if he ran from Van Damme.

Years ago when filming Under Siege, Segal was
getting rough with the extras.

Gene Lebell told him to stop it and Segal got in his
face, so Lebell threw Segal in a choke hold and
put him to sleep and made him piss his pants.

Segal woke up yelling and the studios got an
order for no one to discuss it, but its one of
the worst kept secrets in Hollywood.

Really. Hmmm. Make you wonder how he's gonna do on that new cop show of his? ;)

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As for Van Damme, I've heard he's got quite the ego as well, & that his "kung fu" is not as stong as he thinks. Here is a quote from an article about former Hell's Angel turned bodyguard, stuntman & actor Chuck Zito:


"My father taught me how to fight when I was 5," says Zito (who would later pick up five martial-arts black belts). But his most memorable knockout was not in the ring. It came in 1998 in the Scores strip club, when tough-guy movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme cursed out Zito publicly. Zito responded with a straight right and a left hook, screaming, "This ain't the movies! This is the street, and I own the street!"

Van Damme curled into a fetal ball.

Stories about the incident ricocheted around the globe.

[AcesandEights]

Yeh, suppose to be some big issue between Segal and Van Damme isn't there? Didn't Van Damme challenge him to a fight?

They should have a wife beating contest and be done with it. I hear they both know how to smack a bitch.

[darth los]

It's weird but the question i was thinking to myself is why would they want HIM? :confused:


:cool:

[Neil]

Segal has a big mouth, I am not surprised
if he ran from Van Damme.

Years ago when filming Under Siege, Segal was
getting rough with the extras.

Gene Lebell told him to stop it and Segal got in his
face, so Lebell threw Segal in a choke hold and
put him to sleep and made him piss his pants.

Segal woke up yelling and the studios got an
order for no one to discuss it, but its one of
the worst kept secrets in Hollywood.

Yeh! From wiki:-

One of the more infamous incidents in Gene Labell's colorful life is his alleged choking out of actor Steven Seagal at the set of Under Seige. According to rumor, Steven was either hurting stunt people, or being disrespectful of other arts and made mention that no chokehold would work on him. Gene LeBell put Steven Seagal in a chokehold and Steven Seagal could not escape even allegedly striking at LeBell's groin. Steven Seagal passed out, allegedly convulsing and relieving himself in his pants. As a lawsuit allegedly followed, neither man has spoken on the incident officially (Gene subsequently found himself blacklisted from Hollywood for a few years), however the legend of the incident persists to this day.

---------- Post added at 05:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:24 PM ----------


As for Van Damme, I've heard he's got quite the ego as well, & that his "kung fu" is not as stong as he thinks. Here is a quote from an article about former Hell's Angel turned bodyguard, stuntman & actor Chuck Zito:

Well, in full contact karate he knocked most of his opponents out, which can't be bad :)

I would have loved to see what happened in that fight. I wonder if it was just a sucker punch from no where? Maybe Van Damme was even drunk? Or maybe he actually was just out punched :)

[MoonSylver]

They should have a wife beating contest and be done with it. I hear they both know how to smack a bitch.

They must subscribe to the following theory:

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/10959/slap-bitch-demotivational-poster.jpg

---------- Post added at 12:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 PM ----------


I would have loved to see what happened in that fight. I wonder if it was just a sucker punch from no where? Maybe Van Damme was even drunk? Or maybe he actually was just out punched :)

The story goes that Zito just flat out decked him. *Shrugs* Meh...who knows?

[bassman]

It's weird but the question i was thinking to myself is why would they want HIM? :confused:


Well....it is a movie filled with a bunch of has-beens and no-talents.:p

Seriously....the only one of them that has a decent career going at the moment is Stallone. And that's because of Rocky 6 and First Blood 4. Even those were basically just remakes of the previous installments....

One cold argue that Statham's career is going good and it is to a point....but he's always just Statham being Statham. He has the acting abilities of a used tampon.

[EvilNed]

Well, Dolph Lundgren still makes films but he's mostly retired because of his family. He lives in Sweden now (wohoo!) and, believe it or not, he's focusing on intellectual work (He's got an IQ of 140+!). But it'll be cool to see him and Sly back together again. I think it's a shame they couldn't get Seagal, Arnold and Van Damme, because now it's a mish-mash of 80's action stars and 00's action stars. I would've liked to see one big "family reunion". :p

[bassman]

it's a shame they couldn't get Seagal, Arnold and Van Damme

I thought Arnold was in? Last I heard both Arnold and Bruce Willis have small roles.

[AcesandEights]

Well, Dolph Lundgren still makes films but he's mostly retired because of his family. He lives in Sweden now (wohoo!) and, believe it or not, he's focusing on intellectual work (He's got an IQ of 140+!).

140? Cool, but how do we convert from metric for us folks in the US? :p What is that, like 55.1181? ;)

[Neil]

140? Cool, but how do we convert from metric for us folks in the US? :p What is that, like 55.1181? ;)

He speaks 5-6 languages doesn't he?