By Joël Pütz | Sports journalist
Star of French cinema, Michaël Youn hit hard for his latest film since he had the legend Jean-Claude Van Damme as the film’s co-star The Gardener. The famous interpreter of Fatal Bzaooka also gave his honest opinion on the Belgian.
Unfortunately for him, the first reactions were negative from both critics and the public. Directed by David Charhon with Michaël Youn as the main actor and released a few days ago on Amazon Prime, The Gardener is unanimous in the bad sense of the word since it is receiving fairly disastrous reviews for the moment.
It is therefore necessarily a failure for the French actor and director, but not sure that he regrets having been a member of the project. Indeed, Youn has made no secret of having taken great pleasure in participating in this feature film, especially since he fulfilled a true childhood dream by playing opposite the legendary Jean-Claude Van Damme. Asked by 20 Minutes recently, the person concerned did not mince his words:
Michaël Youn raves about Jean-Claude Van Damme
I have been a fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme since childhood. I was bottle-fed Kickboxer and to Bloodsport, to action films “alpha male” when I was a kid. So, when the producer called me to say “We’re making a comedy, with fighting and with Jean-Claude Van Damme”, I told him yes straight away before even reading the script.
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Filming with Jean-Claude Van Damme was a gift. The duo was born instantly during camera tests. I spoke to him with the respect, deference and consideration that I maintained for him throughout the filming. I put him on a pedestal from which I never took him down. I wanted to always consider him as the international star and extraordinary actor that he is.
As the interpreter of Fatal Bazooka explains, the flow quickly passed between him and JCVD:
I immediately got into my character. I stood in front of him, a bit like Louis de Funès, saying, “You’re taking up too much space.” And that made him laugh. We went to eat together. He told me tons of anecdotes. He is very rich. I’m not talking about finances. I speak inside.
He thinks in English. He is more comfortable playing in English than playing in French. I can confirm this because we shot the film in two languages. He also happens to say funny things. He asked me: “Do you have a wife?” Well, turn off the lights, you’ll get more done.”
A fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme since his childhood, Michaël Youn made his dream come true by making a film with the iconic actor. And the least we can say is that he in no way regrets this most unique experience.
