There are cool moments in life…and then there is this! I never thought in a million years that I would have any contact whatsoever, by email or otherwise, with anyone of the caliber of JCVD, but here is is! His newest film, Pound Of Flesh, will be out May 15th, and so I sent the Muscles From Brussels some questions, and while he didn’t answer them all, the answers he did give were really cool, and I’m happy he answered a question about one of this website’s favorite people, the late Darren Shahlavi. Please enjoy, and expect my review of the film next Monday!

KK: You’ve been playing dark characters over the last few films, but then play it for laughs in Welcome To The Jungle, and of course, some hilarious commercials. What do you look for in the roles you take now as opposed to when you were younger?

JCVD: I am a big fan of smart movies, right.  But let’s face it.  Jean Claude Van Damme is into the action category.  So I got a Facebook and when they send me response when I talk to my fans, they send me back pictures when I was 25, 28 years old with big biceps.  That’s how they love me.  That’s how they see me.  So I think it’s time for me to go back into the action genre and of course with some acting into it so it looks even more dangerous and that’s why I go to the gym every day.  So hopefully it will be ok for me to be one more time in Hollywood.  

KK: This is your third film with Ernie Barbarash. What is it about his directing style that you gravitate towards?

JCVD: Ernie knows me.   He gets it.   He’s smart, you know.  I like smart people….He’s very relaxed and quiet with the actors…He’s a cool guy, plus he’s a good director and a good writer.

But I’m afraid for Ernie.  He’s done so many good movies.  And they call him in a sense a doctor because sometimes he comes on the set to fix movies.  And they take advantage of his good heart.  And you know, he’s got to work.  But I think Ernie should get the chance to have a movie with a studio one day with or without me where he can get the 55 days of shoot.  Then you will see Ernie Barbarash.

KK: On a very somber note, the stunt community is saddened by the passing of Darren Shahlavi earlier this year. Many of my readers were fans of his. What was it like working with him? 

JCVD: When I was on EXPENDABLES, I didn’t talk to nobody.  Why?  I played the bad guy.  And I want Stallone to be scared when I took my glass out…and I saw the gulp.   Because you know, when you’re very truthful, and you go to a person, even though it’s Sly and it’s a movie, if the feeling is so strong, they get scared…especially when you don’t talk to them in a full shoot.

And of course, after I come to them, Woah!  So it was the same with Darren.  I didn’t want to talk to him too him so was have this fresh encountering.  And then at the end of the shoot, we started to talk, and I’m kind of a shy guy.  People think I don’t like people.  Here I’m opening myself because of the promotion.   I want this movie to work.

He came to me.  He’s such a great guy.  Hey, I love your movies because of you and this and that…I see me because of Bruce Lee. We became good friends.   So Simpatico.  I should have gone to the gym with him, this and that, but I will meet with him in Los Angeles.

So when I heard the news, I was completely flabbergasted because he was in shape.  He trained hard.  He was so happy always.  Some people.  I’m not saying.  Nobody deserves to die.  But maybe, something else is waiting for him up there because he’s such a warrior and a good person that they need him for a job that nobody can do out there except him.  That’s why I see Darren as a good warrior person.  

Thanks to JCVD and EOne Entertainment for setting this up!

Check out the Latest Trailer below, and get ready for May 15th! 

In China to donate his kidney to his dying niece, former black-ops agent Deacon awakes the day before the operation to find he is the latest victim of organ theft. Stitched up and pissed-off, Deacon descends from his opulent hotel in search of his stolen kidney and carves a blood-soaked path through the darkest corners of the city. The clock is ticking for his niece and with each step he loses blood.