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Jean-Claude Van Damme
ActorMMA
Belgium
Jean-Claude Van Damme is a Belgian actor and athlete who became an international action star through films including Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Universal Soldier and Timecop. Before entering film, he trained extensively in karate and kickboxing and competed in martial arts in Belgium. [2][4]
Career and work
Van Damme began training in karate as a child in Brussels and later competed in martial-arts events before turning his attention to acting. He earned a black belt as a teenager and also trained in ballet, developing the combination of strength and flexibility that later became central to his screen persona. [2]
After moving to the United States, Van Damme worked in small film roles before receiving his breakthrough lead role in Bloodsport (1988). He followed it with a series of commercially successful action films including Kickboxer, Lionheart, Double Impact, Universal Soldier and Timecop, establishing himself as one of the most recognizable action stars of the late 1980s and 1990s. [2][3]
What has been publicly discussed
- Van Damme has said that a neurologist identified him as having manic depression during the 1990s, after years of pronounced shifts in mood. In a 1998 interview, he described being told that he was a “daily cyclo-manic depressive,” with several shifts between high and low states within a single day. [1]
- He later spoke about the condition more openly as bipolar disorder. Van Damme has described recognizing in retrospect that mood swings had affected him since he was young, long before he received a diagnosis. [4][1]
- Van Damme has described periods of severe depression. In a 1998 interview, he said he had reached a point when he wanted to die, no longer felt excited about anything and could not see a reason to live. [1]
- Van Damme has said that physical training was one way he coped with his mood difficulties even before receiving a diagnosis. He described using karate and later regular exercise to manage himself, saying that when he stopped training for several days he could become very low. [1]
- He has also said that he was prescribed sodium valproate after seeing a neurologist. In 1998, he said he noticed a substantial change within about a week of starting the medication. [1]
- By 2000, Van Damme said he had stopped using cocaine, was continuing to take medication and had returned to regular training. Looking back on the difficult period of the 1990s, he described himself at that point as happy to have another chance to move forward. [5]
“All the commotion around me, all the water around me, moving left and right around me, became like a lake.”
— Jean-Claude Van Damme [1]
Sources and other resourcesExpand to view the sources used in this profile and resources to learn more.
Sources used for this profile
The following sources contain information that supports the claims made on this page.
E! Online interview, archived by JCVD.be“Van Damme comes clean about his battles with drugs, depression and divorce” Diagnosis, mood changes, severe depression, exercise and medication.
Jean-Claude Van DammeOfficial biography Martial-arts training and career.
Jean-Claude Van DammeOfficial filmography Film career.
View all 5 sources
Biography.comJean-Claude Van Damme Career and public history of bipolar disorder.
Los Angeles Times“Jean-Claude Gets Pumped Up” Later account of medication use, stopping cocaine, regular training and how Van Damme described his wellbeing in 2000.
Learn more
Recommended books and other resources about Jean-Claude Van Damme and their experiences.