Jean-Claude Van Damme has never made a "bad movie" since ‘JCVD’.
The 57-year-old actor has seen his career reach highs and lows in recent decades, but he learned a lot about his craft making the 2008 movie – in which he played a fictional version of himself – so even if he was cast in "low budget", straight-to-DVD release projects, he gave his performance his all and is proud of the work.
He said: "I’ve got to say thank you to Mabrouck El Mechri, the director of ‘JCVD’ because he did a great job and he made me understand acting much better and he told me, ‘After this, you can’t do a bad movie any more’ and it’s true, low budget, even if you’re real and consistent, it holds."
And the ‘Jean-Claude Van Johnson’ actor believes truly great acting relies on telling the "truth" and not having to act.
He said: "When I play a persona today I’m trying to be as truthful as possible.
"If we act, a real actor is supposed to tell the truth, the word acting goes away, acting is like a child who doesn’t want to go to school and says, ‘I don’t feel too good’, I took this very serious."
Jean-Claude’s new Amazon Prime Video series, ‘Jean-Claude Van Johnson’ – in which, like ‘JCVD’, he plays a fictional version of himself – premiered in Paris earlier this week and it was important for the ‘Time Cop’ star to stage the screening in France because it reminds him of the highs he vowed to get back to when his career was at its lowest point.
He said: "It’s like a rollercoaster, I was here and then I came down – metaphor. And I was with my mum, my mother is very consistent and she works, my father also, they are great people. I told my mother, one day I will come back to theatrical and it will happen in Paris. It was 15 years ago and it truly happened, so when they say a dream come true…"
‘Jean-Claude Van Johnson’ is available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video now.
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s success after JCVD
