Movies
Before he was an action hero, he was a villain: this was Van Damme’s first big screen role
We remember Van Damme’s first relevant role on the big screen was not as a hero, but as a villain.
Jean-Claude Van Damme was one of the great action movie stars of the 80’s and 90’s, establishing himself alongside other key figures of this type of film such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Thanks to his real skill in various martial arts disciplines and his natural charisma, he became the protagonist of some of the most iconic movies of the genre. But before he became an action hero, his first big screen role was as a villain.
Van Damme was the “Ivan Drago” of ‘No Retreat, No Surrender’ in his first major movie role.
While Jean-Claude Van Damme is remembered as one of the great action movie heroes of the 80s and 90s, his first steps in Hollywood took him down a different path. In ‘No Retreat, No Surrender’ (1985), the Belgian actor played Ivan Krashinsky, an imposing Russian-born fighter who served as the film’s main antagonist. His character, a ruthless martial arts expert in the service of a criminal organization, became the final obstacle for the protagonist to overcome. This casting choice not only allowed Van Damme to demonstrate his almost unfettered prowess on the big screen, but also positioned him as a figure to watch in the genre. Such was his enthusiasm that he even got into trouble with director Corey Yuen and his fellow actors. Despite warnings not to make physical contact in his shots, he continued to ignore them.
The parallels to ‘Rocky IV’ (1985) are undeniable. Like Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago, Van Damme played a cold, brutal and relentless Russian fighter whose menacing presence defined much of the plot. Although ‘No Retreat, No Surrender’ did not have the same cultural impact as the ‘Rocky’ saga, Van Damme’s character was memorable as the great rival the protagonist must defeat. His imposing physique and fighting skills helped to reinforce the image of European antagonists in action films of the era, in line with other memorable villains popularized by Hollywood during those years.
Although this was his first major role, Van Damme soon switched sides on the big screen. Just a few years later, thanks to ‘Bloodsport’ (1988), he starred in his own story and established himself as an action hero thanks to his spectacular martial arts skills and great screen presence. Unlike other actors who became typecast in villainous roles, JCVD’s transition was quick and effective, proving that he had the charisma and skill to star in his own films. From there, his career took off and he became one of the genre’s biggest stars.
Interestingly, this path was not so different from that of other action movie icons. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example, also began as an antagonist in ‘Terminator’ (1984) before becoming the hero of later installments and other films such as ‘Commando’ (1985) and ‘Predator’ (1987). Even Dolph Lundgren, despite his iconic role as Ivan Drago in ‘Rocky IV’, would eventually star in his own action films such as ‘Masters of the Universe’ (1987) or ‘The Punisher’ (1989). In retrospect, the fact that Van Damme made his debut as a villain was not a hindrance to his career, but the first step in a more ambitious trajectory that would lead him to become a true icon of martial arts and action cinema.
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