After an illustrious career as the lead in a long string of action flicks, Jean-Claude Van Damme is planning to retire from acting.
Van Damme discussed his final film What's My Name?, and what comes after, in an interview with Deadline. "I wanted to leave the stage but with a revisit of my career, starting with Bloodsport, the one where I started to become famous," he explained. To that end, What's My Name? will be a pseudo-autobiographical tale in which Van Damme plays himself, but in some fictional circumstances involving a loss of his identity. The film is financed by Cross Creek, with Tyler Thompson producing alongside Zag and Van Damme.
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Once he's done with this film, Van Damme just wants to take it easy. "I’m canceling everything to get in shape, and after this movie, I’ve bought a small boat. Not a big boat — that’s not for me — but I want to go around the world, and relax. I work all my life, I live all my life in hotels for 30 years." His need to get away from the spotlight becomes part of the plot in What's My Name?: "That all will be explained in the movie, how I became far away from my family. After this, I want to relax and enjoy my life and family, because life goes by fast."
Van Damme starred in Bloodsport in 1988 and thus kicked off a long-running reputation for playing fighters in blockbuster action movies. These included Universal Soldier, the Kickboxer series and Double Impact -- all of which are planned to contribute Van Damme's co-stars to What's My Name? as opponents seeking a rematch.
"I want this to be a new Bloodsport but on a higher level," said Van Damme. "In the film, I am on my way down in terms of career, and as I come out of a premiere of another action movie, I am not happy because I’ve been living in hotels the past 30 years, which is actually true. We’re going to bring real elements from my real life and what happened to me."
Van Damme is now 61, but he took on another action role as recently as 2021 in The Last Mercenary. Some colorful details from his real life have also resurfaced lately in the story of how he was fired from his role in The Predator for repeatedly passing out due to dehydration. Whether he'll revisit this incident in What's My Name?, and whether he'll ever want to return to the screen after some time out on his boat, remains to be seen.
Source: Deadline