Van Damme studied classical ballet for five years alongside his karate training as a teenager. His instructor was Michel Qisling. This is widely credited for the unusual grace and control in his on-screen movement.

Van Damme was originally cast as the Predator creature in the 1987 Schwarzenegger film. He left the production early — the original suit was impractical and filming was gruelling. He was replaced by 7'2" Kevin Peter Hall, and the suit was completely redesigned.

He arrived in Los Angeles in 1982 speaking almost no English and with very little money. He worked as a bouncer, a carpet layer, and drove a limousine before convincing producer Menahem Golan to cast him in Bloodsport by demonstrating a high kick in a restaurant.

The French-language film JCVD (2008) features a raw, fourth-wall-breaking monologue in which Van Damme reflects on his real life, his failures, and his fame. Shot in a single take, it stunned critics and is widely considered the most honest piece of acting of his career.

Van Damme has been publicly open about his diagnosis of bipolar disorder and his past cocaine addiction during the peak of his fame in the 1990s. He has spoken about both candidly in interviews, becoming an inadvertent advocate for mental health discussion in Hollywood.

The Epic Split was filmed in a single take at dawn on a runway in Spain. The directors initially doubted it was possible. Van Damme has said the hardest part was not the split itself — it was holding it perfectly still while the trucks slowly diverged at low speed.

In a now-legendary 2013 interview, Van Damme gave an impromptu speech on consciousness, time, and the universe that became a viral sensation. He described the sun, the moon, and Earth's rotation with such earnest intensity it spawned countless memes — and also made a lot of people genuinely think.