Jean Claude Van Damme Set to Retire After One Final Action Film
Belgian actor and martial arts superstar Jean Claude Van Damme is planning to retire from action filmmaking after releasing one last pulse-pounding, bare-knuckle adventure. After having made a name for himself in the Belgian martial arts world, Van Damme moved to America in the early '80s to pursue a dream of acting. After playing a few smaller roles in movies like No Retreat, No Surrender and War and Remembrance, heburst onto the American martial arts movie scene as the leading man in 1988's Bloodsport.
Following the success of Bloodsport, the fact that Van Damme was officially an action star was undeniable. He'd lead nearly 20 movies in the next ten years alone and, to this day, hasn't gone more than a year in between projects since Bloodsport. Van Damme's celebrity continued to rise throughout the '80s and '90s thanks to hits like Universal Soldier and Timecop. He even starred in Hard Target, the American directorial debut of cinematic gunfight maestro John Woo. While much of Van Damme's output of late has been relegated to home and streaming releases, he returned to the big screen in The Expendables 2. Now, after 30-plus years of fistfights, shootouts, and car chases, Van Damme is leaving it all behind.
Related: Why Jean-Claude Van Damme Would Be Perfect for Mortal Kombat's Johnny Cage
According to Deadline, Van Damme has announced his latest project, What’s My Name?, will be the final action movie he will work on, saying that after "living in hotels the past 30 years," he's ready for some change. Van Damme will play a fictionalized version of himself suffering from amnesia following a car accident. On a mission to restore his memory, Van Damme will have to square off against a who's-who of enemies and actors
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