In the world of action cinema, we know that there is no greater reference than the films of the nineties that left a marked mark within this genre, and if we talk about faces, there is no better face to describe the success of these films than Jean Claude Van Damme led to stardom, although of course, the iconic Belgian actor is not to everyone’s liking, as the also renowned Steven Seagal.
In a recent interview for Big Issue, the actor who has one of the dullest sex scenes in the world of cinema has declared why he has not appeared in the ‘The Expendables’ films, a series of films that bring together the best of the high sphere of the action genre and that has seen the rebirth of true legends of bare knuckle fighting on the screen.
In this interview, Steven Seagal did not name Van Damme directly, however, he did throw a hint by acknowledging that “I just didn’t like some of the people involved”which gives us to understand that in reality the invitation was always there, which Seagal rejected from the beginning.
To put ourselves in context, it all started when, in 1991, in an interview for the Arsenio Hall show, Steven Seagal said that Van Damme was no martial arts star questioning their titles, successes and recognitions: “I think the fact that Van Damme has been a champion anywhere is a matter of opinion. I wish him the best, but there are many people who claim that what Van Damme says is not true.”
As a reply, Van Damme challenged Seagal to a fight when they both met at a party, however, “There was only one confrontation, because it was a very nice house, with very nice furniture, so I told Steven ‘let’s go outside’, but I waited two hours and he never showed up“.
A rivalry that remains to this day
Although thirty years have passed since that conflict, the consequences are still seen today, and not only the enmity with them It remained as an anecdote at that partybut it was also a decisive factor for van Damme to appear in ‘The Mercenaries’, since as Europa Press reported at the time, the condition to appear in the film was that Stallone completely vetoed Seagal to accept his role.
But not only that, there is also another person who made Seagal reject ‘The Expendables’: producer Avi Lerner, who in the nineties worked with Wesley Snipes, Stallone himself and Dolph Lundgren, actors who have appeared in some installments. of this saga, for which Lerner put money in as executive director, which made Seagal definitively refuse to appear in this film, since the actor went so far as to sue Lerner and his production company because he claimed that they owed him money.
Due to personal reasons, contract issues and quarrels between producer and actor, the truth is that it was very difficult for Seagal will be part of ‘The Expendables’leaving us with the desire to see the greatest exponents of 90s action cinema together.
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