European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 02, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Universal Jean Claude Van Damme Here in 1993 s hard target now stars in to Mccoy at military Heaters Friday. Van Damme keeps flexing in timecop1- by Marylynn uricch10 Pittsburgh Post Gazette the Muscles from Brussels. That s what Jean Claude Van Damme Wols tagged when he first exploded across movie screens As the latest action s just one Little problem with that image. You Don t get to the top of the movie Star Heap on Shear strength. What meets the Eye in person is Aux Impact body Shorter and Slimmer than you d expect but honed like a Michelangelo Marble. What in t As obvious although it should be is the fierce determination and discipline Van Damme possesses. Though it s barely noon in Pittsburgh he has Al ready put in his daily three hours of training two hours of phone interviews to promote his movie time cop which opens Friday at cafes Heaters and a few hours of movie making. Coming up is a pre interview session for late night with David let terran and an afternoon of More movie making. How does he do it All i skip lunch time he jokes with his belgian accent. But something Deli Cious is cooking in the oven of his dressing room trailer. A. The training is essential to Van Damme. He s a karate kick boxing and body building Champion who used to be a 97-Pound weakling sometimes i cannot train because i have travel ing but normally All those gyms along the Way they open for me. When i go to Japan i know the own ers i Start to know gyms where i go All the time. I always Start first with cardiovascular for a half hour bicycle stairmaster for 15 minutes then stretching just Normal stuff so i won t be too Bulky. Then i do weights for an hour and a half. That s about two hours training and then i do relaxation and some Van Damme is in Pittsburgh through december to shoot his film sudden death. He plays a fireman who s watching the Stanley cup finals at the civic Arena when terrorists take the entire stadium hos Tage. Only one Man can Stop them and save the vice president of the United states who also Hap pens to be a Spectator. Long before sudden death makes it to Heaters Van Damme should have two major Box office hits to his credit. Time cop a futuristic adventure that has him chasing a corrupt politician Back through the decades is no. 1 at . Heaters. And sir Leo fighter which is based on the popular vide game opens later this year. On this sunny afternoon Van Damme is shooting on the grounds of the a medical Center Aspinwall. The movie production is tucked away in a parking lot behind the Complex. They re using the kitchens which will pass for the Arena kitchens in the movie. While there s a break in the action sudden death director Peter Hyams stops by to go Over last minute changes. _ i m talking about time cop Peter Van Damme says. Since Hyams directed that one As Well he s As interested As Van Damme in hearing about How the audience loved the movie at a preview screening. Still both men seem nervous. They loved it i m scared. Peter Are you scared he s like me very superstitious. For the first time i be got a Good director. I be done so Many Low Bud get movies and i was a thing now i m not a thing i m a piece in the the parallels Between Van Damme and Arnold Schwarzenegger Are apparent but Van Damme notes that he was already in Hollywood doing Odd jobs when Schwarzenegger became a Star then there s the age difference Schwarzenegger is 48, Van Damme is 33. Arnold made it when i came to America. not Good to him years ago. They called him a big thing full of muscle not much of a brain and he proved them wrong. And that s Nice and encouraging to people who do sports. That s changing a lot the attitude that if you re in the gym if you _ have Muscles you re not so smart. To me that s the Sunart est thing you can do invest in your health. I love to see a woman training. It s so incredibly Van Damme almost became a professional Ballet dancer in Stead of a movie Star. Ballet gave me a Good foundation. I was very serious. It s hard if you want to do it right and i did it right. When it s on a High level you have to make a Choice and i chose martial arts. But there was More to gain with Ballet than martial arts because i did t know it would bring me these kinds of movies. And it s much harder to be the Best in Ballet than in martial there s a scene in time cop that women Are Al ready writing in about. Van Damme leaps onto a counter Landing in a full split. It s clearly a Ballet move and he laughs at the juror it s causing. They talk a lot about the big break in the . Who knows he he asks about the previews for Street fighter in a Way that s completely endearing. How i look like Good it will be huge. I guarantee you. It s a big phenomenon. They sold two billion video games. If the movie is Good or not Good it will be successful it s just the name like the Flintstones or Batman. Maybe i m funny thing about Van Damme is that he s not the least bit egotistical. He is self focused As anyone who spends that much time on his body would have to be. And he shows every sign of being As shrewd a businessman As Schwarzenegger. He talks about his career objectively As if analysing it from a distance. When i did my first movie bloodsport nobody. Wanted to release the film in the . They thought it was like a bad movie. It was not a very deep think ing movie. It was like a video product. So they put it on the shelf. But France and Malaysia bought blood sport for Heaters and it was no. 1 in those coun _ tries. _ in the meantime i was Back on the streets for a year driving a limousine. So i signed for a few movies one in the Philippines one in Taiwan for like $5,000 a movie. Bloodsport became hot right away and those Guys with contracts said Van Damme Van i m a Miracle. If you put another actor in a movie with no director no stories it s difficult to make Money. Peter Hyams is my first real director my first. And the movie is much better. Why be cause it s a Good director Good Story and i m going to have fun it s like you work in a restaurant As a dishwasher washing dishes and then one Day you become the owner of that place. You know what s going on in the Kitchen. So i know what s going on in the cutting Van Damme recently married his fourth wife Darcy and he has a son 7, and a daughter 4, from a previous marriage. The children live in Belgium with their Mother but he sees them frequently. There s a sudden tipping beneath the table. Van Damme bends Down and picks up a spotted Puppy. He lets him drink from a cup and then pushes it away so i won t. I found this dog on the Street. It was full of fleas. A it s a Pittsburgh dog. I Call him bugs. Remember Busy i loved the movie. And also because he s very. Feisty. _. ,. -. He s like me Van Damme says As he strokes the dog tenderly and escorts me to the trailer door. From the Street to a when i look Back Van Damme is shaking a Rug out the trailer door and carefully laying it Back Dow again. You have to like a Guy that fastidious. Scripps Howard news service october 21994 sunday Page 11
