During the '80s and early-'90s, there were a handful of action stars who stood atop Hollywood and reigned supreme at the box office. The most notable names who are included in that list include Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Steven Seagal.
Unsurprisingly, there has been a lot of discussion about the relationships the aforementioned men had in the past. After all, it has always been very clear that all of those men had big personalities and egos, so it is fascinating to think about how they would handle competing with each other.
As a result of the interest in how those action stars related to each other, several stories about them became legendary. Some examples of that include the stories about Schwarzenegger tricking Stallone into making bad movies, Van Damme trying to fight Seagal, and Stallone losing it on Willis.
While all of those stories are amazing to learn about, it is notable that none of them focus on Schwarzenegger and Van Damme. With that in mind, it is interesting to look at the truth about Van Damme and Schwarzenegger's relationship.
Are Arnold Schwarzenegger And Jean-Claude Van Damme Friends?
Over the years, there has been a lot of talk about the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone have become close friends. After all, there have been many times when pictures of Stallone and Schwarzenegger hanging out together have been posted online.
On top of those photos, there also has been a lot of talk about the fact that Stallone and Schwarzenegger feuded for years.
As a result of the aforementioned photos and the tales about Schwarzenegger and Stallone's past feud, both men have been asked about each other many times. That has given Stallone and Schwarzenegger many opportunities to publicly confirm that they've become close friends.
Unlike Arnold and Sylvester, Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme have never been as closely associated to each other.
Since Van Damme and Schwarzenegger aren't as closely associated, the two men aren't routinely asked about each other during interviews. For that reason, it is more difficult to discern the true nature of Schwarzenegger and Van Damme's relationship.
That said, anyone who wants to know about Van Damme and Schwarzenegger aren't completely out of luck since the men have given some public indications about their relationship in the past.
After years of being known for his incredible physique, Schwarzenegger started to have some issues with his health. In March 2018, it was confirmed by Schwarzenegger's spokespeople that Arnold had to undergo heart surgery to replace a pulmonary valve.
Thankfully for Schwarzenegger, his family, friends, and fans, Arnold recovered from that surgery and another procedure he had on his heart two years later. That said, it obviously is scary anytime somebody requires heart surgery.
The same day Schwarzenegger's spokesperson confirmed his 2018 heart surgery, Van Damme took to social media to wish Arnold a speedy recovery and state that the two actors are friends.
"Wishing my friend Arnold Schwarzenegger a full and speedy recovery so he’ll be back soon! #JCVD #GetWellSoon"
Of course, Van Damme directly calling Schwarzenegger his friend seems to be pretty definitive proof that they are pals. That said, that quote still leaves open the possibility that Van Damme and Schwarzenegger have a one-sided relationship.
Not long after Van Damme wished Schwarzenegger well, he posted about his relationship with Arnold on social media again. That second post came along with selfie photo that Van Damme took with Schwarzenegger when the two men ran into each other at the gym.
While Van Damme made it clear that his reunion with Schwarzenegger wasn't planned, the two look very to see each other in the photo.
Decades before Schwarzenegger and Van Damme posed for their gym selfie, the two actors took other photos together. Those photos show Schwarzenegger hanging out with Van Damme on the set of Jean-Claude's 1992 movie Universal Soldier.
According to unconfirmed reports on the website manlymovie.net, Schwarzenegger took a jet to the set of Universal Soldier to hang out with Van Damme. While that report isn't credible enough to take at face value, Schwarzenegger clearly had fun with Van Damme on the set of the movie. After all, two of Van Damme's co-stars in the movie can also be seen in the photo.
Finally, there is one more photo that seems to indicate that Van Damme and Schwarzenegger are friends which stems from the premiere of The Expendables 2.
In the picture that features Dolph Lundgren, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme, all four men seem overjoyed to be together.
Of course, as actors, all four men are paid to fake emotions and there are examples of co-stars pretending to get along while promoting their projects. That said, the four actors have a history of being very forthright during interviews, so it seems very unlikely that they would fake being so happy to be together.
What Are Jean-Claude Van Damme And Arnold Schwarzenegger's Movies Together?
During the early-'90s, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme were both at the height of their box office powers. If the two men agreed to headline a movie where they fought each other at that moment in time, that easily could have been a massive deal.
Unfortunately for action movie fans everywhere, that never came to fruition. However, as the biggest Van Damme and Schwarzenegger fans will already know, the two actors did end up working on films together.
Most recently, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme both headlined the successful movie The Expendables 2 in 2012. However, Arnold and Jean-Claude didn't appear in any Expendables 2 scenes together.
Before working on The Expendables 2, Van Damme previously made an appearance in a Schwarzenegger movie. In 1993, Schwarzenegger starred in the action comedy movie Last Action Hero which lampooned Hollywood. Last Action Hero featured a slew of different cameo appearances including one that Van Damme filmed.
As was the case with The Expendables 2, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme didn't appear in any Last Action Hero scenes together.
Back in the late-'80s, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme got their first chance to work on a movie together. In fact, the two action legends both signed on to a movie where they were going to fight each other.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, things didn't play out as they were originally planned as Van Damme infamously left the movie. After he was cast as the alien hunter in 1987's Predator, things went wrong on the film's set which resulted in Van Damme leaving the project.
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