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While many of the leading actors in the Fast & Furious movies have become action stars in their own right, there have been a handful of performers who’ve joined the franchise over the years and were already well established in this genre, like Kurt Russell, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Stratham. With at least two more movies confirmed, and the potential for three if the main Fast Saga’s finale does indeed stretch into a trilogy, there will surely be more opportunities to loop in more of these veterans. As it turns out through, apparently Vin Diesel isn’t interested in recruiting one of the 1990s’ biggest action stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Van Damme, who first made waves on the martial arts front in the late ‘80s with Bloodsport, Cyborg and Kickboxer, alleged in an interview with The Telegraph that there was a time he was being eyed for a Fast & Furious role. However, Diesel, who plays Dominic Toretto and is one of the franchise’s main producers, allegedly shot down this pitch. As Van Damme stated:
They want me in Fast and Furious. But Vin Diesel said, ‘No, I don’t want him.’
Jean-Claude Van Damme didn’t share which Fast & Furious movie he was being courted for, nor did he provide any details about the character he would have played. Whatever was being planned, from what Van Damme has heard, Diesel was not interested in bringing him aboard. Assuming this is true, naturally one has to wonder why this is the case given Van Damme’s action bonafides.
After all, this is a man who established himself as a major player in this genre throughout the ‘90s with blockbusters like Universal Soldier, Hard Target, Timecop and Street Fighter, to name just a few. Granted, Van Damme doesn’t boast nearly as high a profile as he used to, with most of his work being direct-to-video/limited release fare. Still, he did participate in the first two Expendables movies as Jean Vilain, and appearing in a Fast & Furious movie, if not several, would be a solid way for him to impress moviegoers who aren’t familiar with his older work.
For now though, this is apparently not in the cards, though if that changes, we’ll let you know. Jean-Claude Van Damme was recently heard voicing Jean Clawed in 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Guru, and his next movie is Frenchy, which he stars in, directed, wrote and produced. As for the Fast & Furious franchise, Fast X’s ending laid plenty of groundwork for Fast & Furious 11, which was expected to come out 2025, but remains on hold due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Additionally, Dwayne Johnson will team with Jason Momoa on a spinoff movie that will serve as a bridge between Fast X and Fast & Furious 11.
If you missed seeing Fast X in theaters, stream it now with a Peacock subscription. Otherwise, look over the remaining 2023 movie releases and the 2024 movie releases to see what catches your eye.