Jean-Claude Van Damme

“Because no matter what you say in life, the truth will always be the truth. You know when someone is telling the truth, you look in the eyes. I have a tendency to believe people.”

“Karate's a very boring sport, but when you know the technique you can go further and further.”

“God gave me a great body and it's my duty to take care of my physical temple.”

“There are some movie stars in Hollywood that are so scared, they also tell the reporter that they are recording them, in case there is something wrong with what they wrote about them in the papers.”

“What I promise to my actors, and to my director, is to give them the salary and everything they need.”

“I train, for me, very smartly. I don't train heavy, I do a lot of isometrics.”

“I've become 40, my audience is partly the same age.”

“אני חושב שזה בגלל שהתחלתי להתאמן בגיל מאוד צעיר. תמיד הייתי בעניין של אימוני גמישות, אז השרירים שלי מאוד אלסטיים. בנוסף, יש לי גנים טובים מההורים שלי, ו־DNA זה מאוד חשוב. העור של אבא וסבא שלי הוא ללא רבב.”

“היו לי עליות ומורדות, ומהמורות בדרך ורוחות עזות. זה מה שעשה אותי למי שאני היום.”

“When I was 24, I was full of life. I was that ham who wanted to be famous, a movie star, all that stuff. I think it's cool. But it was not what I was searching for, really. It was more a delusion.”

“I don't have a bad relationship. I'm 48 years old. I think life is too short for that. To me, life is... you open the shutters, you see the dogs outside, you look left, you look right, in, what, a second and a half? And that's a life.”

“It's time for me to do things I like so I will be happy, my wife will be happy, my friends will be happy. I just want to do something I'm proud of. It's time for me to change. I could sign with a company for 10 movies and I'm the king of video and so what?”

“My body looks like 30 but my face looks like 50. But I cannot walk bare-chested in the streets. I like to do these movies to challenge myself physically.”

“I now truly believe it is impossible for me to make a bad movie.”

“The action films I will make in the future will be more believable and character-based. I am now on my second cycle of fame, and I want to make films that smell real and are truthful.”

“In the past, I was working out too heavy.”

“Believe me - I've done very good stuff and very crazy stuff, and I don't regret the crazy stuff.”

“When you finish a film, if you believed in your character, you're empty.”

“But on average, I go to the gym about four or five times a week. Today, I'm so experienced in training - I'm actually listening to my body now. My body needs freedom. When I train I create serenity and I produce oxygen in my blood. It helps me to think better and relax. By training, you accentuate the problem.”

“I'm not complaining about doing 20-hour days. It's a joy to be able to work on yet another film.”