Why did Jean-Claude Van Vaerenbergh one day decide to be called Jean-Claude Van Damme? A year ago, he gave the answer!
No need to introduce Jean-Claude Van Damme. The Belgian actor, known as much for his very muscular films (Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Full Contact, Universal Soldier…) as for his often lunar outings on TV sets, is an essential star. Now 62 years old, the king of the splits, recently seen on Netflix in The Last Mercenary, is a true icon of popular culture, to the point that he has been completely integrated into a cult video game.
But do you know why Van Damme is called Van Damme? Because no, the actor was not born Jean-Claude Van Damme, but Jean-Claude Van Vaerenbergh. And if he chose to change his name to adopt the one that we summarize today with the four letters JCVD, it is for a very specific reason.
Interrogates by our colleagues at Brutthe man who predicted the success of the Netflix platform more than twenty years ago revealed in 2022 why he had chosen to adopt this now world-famous last name. “I had a friend of mine, an elderly man, whose name was Paul Van Damme. He loved boxing”, says the Belgian. For information, businessman Paul Van Damme was the one who got the young man started by making him become a model for the men’s clothing magazine Pierre Alexandre.
“I was 17-18 years old and I told him, ‘Paul, I want to succeed in sport, to be a world champion, and I want to succeed in cinema’”continues JCVD. “He then said to me, ‘You will be a great actor.'” I answered him “Well listen, if I ever succeed in the world of cinema, I will take your name in your honor.”
Jean-Claude Van Vaerenbergh kept his word. When success began to knock on the door in the 80s, he put aside his real surname to become Jean-Claude Van Damme. The rest, we know it…
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