Here's How Jean Claude Van Damme Got Fired From 'Predator'
As hit '80s science fiction action thriller "Predator" celebrated its 30th anniversary earlier this June, "Predator" visual effects supervisor Joel Hynek set the record straight when it came to the controversial firing of Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Fans of the film know that the actor got fired early in production. Although it did not take long until fellow actor Kevin Peter Hall took over, the reason behind Van Damme's firing has been one of the urban legends of Hollywood.
Recently, The Hollywood Reporter was able to speak to some of the people involved in the original film as part of the anniversary.
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Hynek shed some light on how Van Damme had been fired from the production.
According to Hynek, he was in Joel Silver's trailer that time when he dropped Van Damme a line to ask him to meet him so they could talk. "And he comes in the trailer and Joel starts saying, 'You gotta stop kickboxing!' - because [Jean-Claude] wanted to kickbox - and he was telling him, 'Look, the Predator is not a kickboxer,'" he recounted.
"And Van Damme was like, 'I must do that; that's how I see the Predator," Hynek added.
The film's visual effects supervisor revealed that was the point when Van Damme's firing happened. "And Joel said, 'Well, you're fired. Get out of here,'" Hynek said. According to him, Van Damme answered him back that time, saying, "Kiss my b****!' and then he left.
Although there have been discrepancies in the stories about the actual interaction, many believe that Hynek's version of the story could be true, considering Van Damme's mood on the set at the time.
In an interview with MovieFone, director John McTiernan also went on to reveal that Van Damme never shot a scene with them because the production had a problem with his agent, who took him aboard the film without even knowing what the movie was all about.
Another cast member, Steve Johnson, also confirmed this and said that Van Damme was so angry that time because the actor was pushing the Predator to do martial arts when the alien wasn't a mixed martial arts kind of alien.
The next "The Predator" film is set to hit theaters on Aug. 3, 2018.
