Jean-Claude Van Damme’s career began with a whimper.
The Belgian actor and martial artist arrived in Hollywood in 1982 determined to become a movie star. But over the next five years, the best he managed was some screen time as an extra in the old-school hip-hop favorite Breakin’, doing stunt work for Chuck Norris and almost playing the alien in Predator.
He lived on the street and nearly got arrested for sneaking onto Sylvester Stallone’s property in a misguided attempt to meet the star of Rambo and Rocky.
Everything changed, though, when the undeterred Van Damme was logging time as a waiter in a Los Angeles eatery and spotted Cannon Films executive Menaham Golan at a table. Van Damme shot his shot — or, more precisely, kicked his kick — executing a roundhouse kick over the producer’s head. It may not have wowed the typically unflappable Golan, but it impressed the Asian film buyers dining with him enough to score Van Damme a meeting.
Read more: yahoo
