THE HOLLYWOOD DREAM

by Don Warrener

Almost as elusive as the fountain of youth is the "Hollywood Dream" of
becoming the next Jean Claude Van Damme.

Sitting here in my studio in Hollywood California I have just finished
talking to another young man who has moved from Edinburgh, Scotland to
Hollywood, California where he is in pursuit of his life time goal of
becoming a action martial arts superstar. "I have taken Tae Kwon Do for
about 3 years and I can do a full split," he says. He is a pretty good-
looking guy but he is the fourth one this week.

This sparked me to talk to my good friend Jean Claude Van Damme and ask him
how does someone realize the Hollywood Dream like he was able to.

DW - How did you make it Jean Claude to the top of the action martial arts
superstars?

JCVD - Well when I decided to go for it, I was running my karate school and
weight gym in Brussels in 1983. I decided that it was time for me to put
into action all the philosophy, confidence and faith I had in myself that I
had learned through training in the dojo. In a dojo as you well know you will
never become any good unless you believe in yourself. The obvious next most
important thing you need is something that many young people nowadays just
do not have and that is discipline and what I call a never give up attitude.

DW - Can you elaborate on this for me?

JCVD -If when you're fighting and you get hit and you go down you better get
up or you're in trouble! Right? Well if anyone thinks that they are going to
make it here in Hollywood without facing problems they are fooling
themselves. After all if it was easy everyone would do it, wouldn't they?

I think that in Judo they have a great saying I always remembered from when
I was in Belgium, "If you fall down seven times get up eight." This is
perfect if you want to make it here in Hollywood. I think it was Jigoro
Kano who said that.

DW - Is there anything else that you would suggest to those young martial
artists who want to take over your spot?

JCVD - Well I had better be careful of what I say, because some of them just
might do it. Then I would be out of a job. No I am just kidding, If I can
make a suggestion that will help someone I would be very happy.

If I wanted to be a martial arts superstar in Hollywood nowadays I
would try to see what is the common denominator that has made all the others
who have made it to the top.

For example the number one martial arts superstar of all time we all know
was Bruce Lee. When I look back at him, I tried to model myself after him in so
many ways. I would say to a "Hollywood want-a- be" do the same. The first
thing you must do is you must be in absolutely perfect physical condition. This

means you really got to watch your diet and you must also train
weights so that you look lean and cut as much as possible. Take a look at
Bruce in the photos or in "Enter the Dragon" and you will see how cut he was
and his total body fat had to be about 4%. He was real lean and in great
shape. I did the exact same thing and I still train hard and before I go
into a picture I increase my training and I really watch my diet.

The other thing that you must have is clean technique. It is not enough to
just be a good fighter. You must be able to throw a roundhouse kick that will
look great on camera. This as we all know comes from hours and hours of
training in the dojo whether it be on a bag or in the air.

The last thing I would suggest technically is that you must really work on
your stretching and overall flexibility. You never know what you may have
to do on a set and the best way to prevent injury is to be flexible so that
you do not pull muscles. If you get hurt and cannot perform this could
mean $100,000 easily depending on how severe the injury is.

DW - What other pointers can you give to martial arts students who are
considering a career in Hollywood?

JCVD - Well I would say to them you better be able to take rejection and
you better be ready to jump in when the opportunity presents itself. For
example, when I first got my big break was when there was a movie being done
by Canon Films and Menachon Golan was the president. They had some one else
doing the lead in "Kickboxer." Menachon wasn¹t happy with the way it was
coming out so I begged him to give me a chance and he did. So don't be
afraid to speak up you never know when you will get another chance, just
imagine if I had not spoken up.

In regards to rejection it sometimes seems that for every step you take
forward sometimes you take two back and then all of a sudden something
clicks and believe me there is no greater surge of energy in the world then
when it clicks and everything seems to work perfectly. The ups and the downs
here in Hollywood are amazing. One day it seems that everything you do turns
to gold so to speak then the next day no one wants to know you. Then when
you make a comeback they are your best friends again. It just makes me
laugh sometimes at how fickle these people are. But I guess it is as they
say the nature of the beast.

DW - Is there anything else you can say that might help them out?

JCVD - The last thing is that they should realize the big three I call them.
You must be in the right spot. In other words, if a good-looking young lady
is needed for a part here in Hollywood and she lives in lets say Caracas, Venezuela. 

The chances of her becoming discovered so to speak are almost impossible.

You must be right here in Hollywood day in and day out if you are serious about

acting as a career. Again, look at Bruce Lee he started in Hong Kong but had to come

here to make it big. Then look at Chuck Norris he was in Oklahoma but he had to move to
Hollywood to make it. Myself, I lived in Brussels but I too had to move here
to become discovered. Even Jet Li or Billy Blanks had move to Hollywood to make it.

The second point is that, you must know the right people. Again you can
only make it if you get a chance and you are only going to meet the people
who can really help your career here in Hollywood. The last point is that
your timing must be perfect and chance has a lot to do with this. You must
be in the right place at the right time. It could be as simple as waiting
tables in a restaurant or working in a dead end job and all of a sudden a
producer or director walks in and sees you and he is working on a project
and you are perfect for it. Well you just got lucky and that is exactly how
it works.

DW - That is it nothing more then this?

JCVD - That is it but remember you better have all the other pieces of the
puzzle in place at the same time. Like it will really help if you study
acting and if you study movie making. All aspects of it not just the acting
side of it. In other words, if and when you are lucky enough to get on a set
and help out don¹t waste this valuable time. Learn as much as you can from
everyone--the lighting guys, the cameramen and anybody who will teach you
anything. Become a sponge and absorb all the information you can.

DW - Is there anything you can say in summary of this great interview Jean
Claude that just might help some young people out?

JCVD - Remember this, there are an estimated 300 people every week moving
into Hollywood to try and make it in the movie business and if they are
lucky maybe one in 5,000 will make it to some level of success. But being a
martial artist your readers have a better chance then others because we as
martial artists understand that we can never give up under any condition.
Someone has to become the next martial arts superstar so why can it not be
one of the people who read this article. I am the living proof that you can
make it. I am just another karate guy that had a dream. The difference
between myself and others who have had the same dream is that I was and
still am unable to understand the meaning of the word quit! I will not quit.

They would have to kill me before I ever give up on anything I believe in.

This is the code of the samurai at least the way I understand it. So tell your

readers to just never give up and follow their dreams.

DW - Thanks very much Jean Claude for that very inspirational interview.

JCVD - It wasn¹t meant to be inspirational it is the absolute 100% truth.