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The martial arts-themed action movie Bloodsport is one of the symbols of childhood for everyone who grew up in the 90s, although the film was received rather cool in the West.
Film critics smashed the script to smithereens, and the Rotten Tomatoes website subsequently gave it only 33% “freshness”.
Nevertheless, in its genre, this picture is still one of the best, remaining also one of the most striking works of Jean-Claude Van Damme.
If everyone knows everything about the main actor, then the rest, who played other participants in the tournament, are less popular. We decided to correct this injustice and remember what they lived in the 80s and what they are doing now.
10 Ken Siu
It is unlikely that anyone will remember the name of this actor, since even in the credits of Bloodsport he is far from being mentioned among the first.
He got a small role as a fighter named Victor, which was his first notable appearance on the big screen.
After that, Ken continued to act in action films, in most cases – in extras.
The most famous films with his participation are the first part of Rush Hour with Jackie Chan and The Forbidden Kingdom, where he starred with Jet Li and again with Jackie Chan.
In November 2018, the actor passed away at the age of 63.
9. Bernard Mariano
There is a scene in Bloodsport where Van Damme’s character “knocks out” an Asian-looking guy with an elbow strike to the face. This guy is Bernard Mariano, and the scene is not staged at all.
During one of the takes, Van Damme accidentally hit his partner for real and he really lost consciousness, and the director decided not to cut the episode, but to insert it into the final version.
Mariano never aspired to become an actor, and agreed to participate in the action movie solely from lack of money. He used his small fee to pay for tuition at the university, where he received a degree in English literature and history.
Now he works as a teacher, speaking in front of children at the same time, since with his hands he can not only fight, but also show tricks.
8. Roy Chiao
The actor, who died in 1999 at the age of 72, began acting in films back in the 50s, although he received his first notable role only in 1984 in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
In Bloodsport, he appeared as the main character’s teacher, Master Senzo Tanaka.
After that, he continued to act in Asian action films and comedies until he suffered 3 heart attacks one after another, which eventually led to his death.
7. Michelle Kissy
The American actor, stuntman, director and screenwriter is a childhood friend of Van Damme.
Kissy was engaged in boxing, and the Belgian was engaged in Shotokan karate. Together they came to conquer Hollywood and starred in the extras of the film “Break Dance”.
In the future, they continued to be friends and work together, and “Bloodsport” became a breakthrough for both. Van Damme then became a star, and Kissy became a successful choreographer of action scenes.
He went on to work with Jean-Claude on two more films: AWOL (1990) and Kickboxer (2016).
Notably, Michel is the younger brother of Abdel Kissi, who played Van Damme’s adversary in the action movies In Search of Adventure and AWOL.
6. Victor Wong
The actor played minor roles throughout his career, but appeared in major projects: even before Bloodsport, he starred in the films Year of the Dragon with Mickey Rourke, Big Trouble in Little China with Kurt Russell, Golden Child with Eddie Murphy and The Last Emperor with Peter O’Toole.
Unfortunately, in 1998 he had to stop acting due to two strokes, and in 2001 he died of heart failure.
5. Lena Ayres
At the time of the release of “Bloodsport”, in which Lea played the journalist Janice Kent (she had an affair with the main character), the actress already had more than two dozen roles, so she was one of the most experienced on the set.
The last time she appeared in the series “Sliders” in 1998, after which she stopped acting and began to popularize yoga.
She has several books and TV shows on her account, as well as children’s programs and educational games on this topic.
4. Come on Yen
Along with Van Damme and Forest Whitaker, who we will talk about next, Bolo Yen is the most famous of all the Bloodsport actors.
A gifted fighter with amazing physical form, he was born to play charismatic villains in movies.
He has roles in a huge number of cult action films: Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee, Double Impact with Van Damme, the Strongest Impact dilogy and many others.
Now, at 72, Bolo no longer acts in films, focusing on seminars and popularizing martial arts.
3. Donald Gibb
Donald Gibb in “Bloodsport” played Ray Jackson: a friend of the main character and a fighter who was almost killed by the character Bolo Yen.
During his career (he is now 64 years old), Gibb starred in more than 25 films, but almost all of the roles were episodic.
So, it can be seen in episodes of The X-Files and Quantum Leap, as well as the movie Hancock.
2. Forest Whitaker
It was this actor who was the main star on the set of Bloodsport, although he was not one according to the script.
Behind Whitaker’s shoulders were works in such films as “Platoon” by Oliver Stone and “Good Morning Vietnam” by Barry Levinson, while none of his colleagues could boast of such a filmography.
In the future, Forest continued acting with major directors, which bore fruit: for his role in the drama The Last King of Scotland by Kevin MacDonald, he received a well-deserved Oscar.
Now he is still in demand and starred in big projects: Arrival, Star Wars, Black Panther.
1. Jean-Claude Van Damme
The main star of the legendary action movie, with whose name the entire film is associated.
Prior to Bloodsport, Van Damme only starred once in the lead role: it was the film No Retreat, No Surrender, which many scolded for borrowing from The Karate Kid and Rocky.
Everyone knows very well about his further career: the peak in the 80s-90s with the tapes “Kickboxer”, “AWOL”, “Double Strike”, “Universal Soldier”, etc., and then a decline at the beginning of the XNUMXs.
In recent years, he has been trying to regain his former glory, but it turns out with varying degrees of success.