The Films and Persona of Jean-Claude Van Damme

1624 Words7 Pages
There are many factors that go into making a film successful at the box office. The studio that supports it, the director that controls the vision, and the producers that provide the necessary resources are vital pieces on the chessboard for creating a film. However, many would argue that the actor that is cast in the starring role is the biggest draw. The star system was the vehicle through which move studios could dominate Hollywood (“MGM Star System”, n.d.). Utilizing talent scouts, many studios searched Broadway and other avenues to find new stars (“The Hollywood Studio System during the Golden Age”, n.d.) that they could groom and contract on behalf of their studios. Most of the contracts we for a period of seven years and had an option for revocation in the first 6 months (“The Hollywood Studio System during the Golden Age”, n.d.) This long term partnership allowed for the grooming of stars as if they were commodities as their careers were tied to the studios that initially signed them. Studios realized that transforming cinematic screen actors and actresses into movie stars would make them objects of intense popular fascination and idolization which they could leverage into large box office gates (Belton, 2013, pg.4). The ability for studios to command this type of influence degraded over time as stars become more influential and started to insist on having a say in the roles that they would play, the direction of their careers, and with what other talents they could work with. Jean-Claude Van Damme began his rise to international stardom as a young man from Brussels, Belgium named Jean-Claude Van Varenberg. Initially, inspired by images of superheroes, the young Jean-Claude decided to change his body to resemble theirs. He immersed himself in karate, especially after watching Bruce Lee’s fighting prowess in Enter the Dragon. It was at this time the
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