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Jean-Claude Van Damme was ‘coked out of his mind’ every day on Street Fighter movie set, says director
Moviemaker Steven de Souza has claimed the Muscles From Brussels was a handful on set
STREET FIGHTER director Steven de Souza has alleged Jean-Claude Van Damme was "coked out of his mind" every day on set.
The moviemaker has said the Muscles From Brussels was a handful during the shoot, and claimed the studio had to hire a "wrangler" in a bid to keep him off drugs.
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De Souza, 70, opened up about making the 1994 action blockbuster in a new interview with the .
He lifted the lid on Van Damme's exploits and alleged the star was taking cocaine at that time.
The director says he hired someone to keep Van Damme, 57, on the straight and narrow, but it didn't work.
He said: "I couldn’t talk about it at the time, but I can now: Jean-Claude was coked out of his mind.
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"The studio had hired a wrangler to take care of him, but unfortunately the wrangler himself was a bad influence.
"Jean-Claude was calling in sick so much I had to keep looking through the script to find something else to film; I couldn’t just sit around for hours waiting for him.
"On two occasions, the producers allowed him to go to Hong Kong, and both occasions he came back late – on Mondays he just wasn’t there at all."
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Veteran Indian actor Roshan Seth, who played Dhalsim in the martial arts movie, also says he struggled working with the actor.
Seth claimed their relationship was strained for the rest of the shoot after he told Van Damme off for drinking at work.
He said: "There was one time he was in the trailer and he was quite p****d...
"I couldn’t get him out... Then he came out with a bottle of a Champagne.
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"I told him it was against health and safety to have alcohol on set. From that point on, he hated me.”
Seth also claimed Van Damme would regularly skip shooting days because he was too busy working out.
Street Fighter also starred pop star Kylie Minogue, who is believed to have got involved with Van Damme during the shoot.
The film was a hit at the cinema, but it was torn apart by critics over who were appalled by the martial arts scenes and uninspiring script.
The Belgian actor has previously spoken openly about his drug use and admitted it nearly wrecked his career.
He confessed to doing up to 10 grams a day of cocaine, but he has since kicked his addiction and bounced back.
The Muscles From Brussels has also been honest about the difficulties he's had rebuilding his reputation in Hollywood years after his struggles.
He previously told : "When you dig a big hole and come out of it, you’re moving lots of dirt, you know?”
The Sun Online has contacted a representative for Van Damme for comment.
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