The playing field for action star-driven feature film projects is wide open, and in the wake of movie franchises like Taken (starring Liam Neeson) and Bourne Identity (starring Matt Damon), stars with real martial arts talent are becoming a novelty in today's movie market. It's a strange time for action stars like Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal, who both have huge followings and have built careers out of starring in martial arts action films. In today's market, they are being displaced by actors like Neeson and Damon, who lack the deep martial arts background but can star in Van Damme and Seagal vehicles by virtue of editing room quick-cuts and shaky camera work, all to give the illusion that they can do the same techniques as real-deal action stars. The fact that Van Damme and Seagal continue to star in action films is a testament to their staying power, and with Van Damme's latest film, Pound of Flesh, he proves yet again that he's not just one of the greatest martial arts action stars of all time, but that his acting muscles are stronger than ever.

In Pound of Flesh, Van Damme plays a former kidnap and rescue agent named Deacon who flies to the Philippines to donate a kidney to his dying niece; but after being duped and drugged, he wakes up to find that the kidney he intended to donate has been stolen right out of his body! Producer Kirk Shaw, who considers the script for the film one of the best he's ever read, says, "I was always interested in this idea. It's the type of script where you could take a star like Jean-Claude and set the story anywhere in the world." Director Ernie Barbarash, who previously worked with Van Damme on the films Assassination Games and Six Bullets, adds, "It's got someone dealing with a physical problem, and that's great for Jean-Claude. He's a very physical person. The character is somebody with an immediate physical problem, and he plays somebody who can do action. He's somebody who can kick ass and who has a missing body part."

Barbarash goes on to explain what attracted Jean-Claude to the role: "Jean-Claude really did enjoy the physicality of the role because it also gave him the chance to act. The character is sick, and there's a progression to the sickness. It's very emotional. He's really good at doing that. It gave him a wide emotional range to work with and the stakes are so high for the character." Screenwriter Joshua James, who is a longtime fan of Van Damme and has trained in Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jujitsu, reflects on the few changes he had to make to the script once Van Damme came aboard to star in it: "When it looked like he was interested in Pound of Flesh, I went through it and revised the character for who Van Damme is. He's a great actor, so there wasn't a whole lot of tweaking. He's very accomplished at what he does. The character in the script was very close to who he is anyway."

James, who goes on to explain the heart of what the film is really about, says, "At its root, it's a gritty family drama with a lot of hardcore action. It's about what you would do for love—the lengths you would go. The best movies are about that. That's why Jean-Claude was attracted to the script. It's not just about a guy trying to hijack a nuclear weapon." As a final thought, James admits that Van Damme is the reason why he started training in the martial arts in the first place. "For me, he's a sensei. He's a martial arts sensei to me. He's the reason why a lot of us started training in the martial arts. He's very much the martial artist that he is on screen."

With a worldwide fan base, Van Damme must satisfy certain expectations every time he makes a new movie. Most fans don't expect diversity from him, but over the last few years, he's experimented with comedy [Welcome to the Jungle], drama without action (Swelter), and supporting roles in pictures like Dragon Eyes and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning. Van Damme puts it this way: "I am a big fan of smart movies, but let's face it. I'm in the action category. Fans send me pictures when I was 25, 28 years old with big biceps. That's how they love me. That's how they see me. So I think it's time for me to go back into the action genre, and of course with some acting in it."

Producer Kirk Shaw iterates, "Jean-Claude hadn't done a real action movie in a while. I wanted to put him in a real action movie, and Ernie, the director, had him doing his own stunts sometimes. The scene where he does the splits on the side of a car ... there's no stunt guy. It's Jean-Claude in that scene. They did it once, and I wanted to shut it down, but Jean-Claude insisted on doing it a second time. So, literally we had our lead actor doing the splits on the side of a car while it's moving. Ernie came up with the shot, but I wouldn't let them have a third take!"

Elaborating on that stunt, fight choreographer John Salvitti pipes in, "In the script, there was a particular moment that was a little non-descriptive as far as the car fight. It was written as a knockout punch kind of thing. I said to Ernie, ‘I might have uncovered something here—for the splits! What if there's a little combat going on here? Let's get some strikes and punching working.’ The more I talked, the more Ernie got excited. ‘Then as the car's moving, how do you like the idea of him doing the splits?’ Ernie was like, ‘I love it!’ Jean-Claude hadn't done the splits in a movie in a long time. That's how that worked."

Director Barbarash, who by now has somewhat of a shorthand with his star, offers, "Every movie I've done with Jean-Claude has been different. It's easier to work with someone with whom you already have a working relationship. We knew how we worked together. Our working relationship is based on trust. Even though there's a familiarity between us and we trust each other, you still end up challenging each other and you don't always agree. What that does is create a lot of solutions to the problems that come up."

Shaw points to director Barbarash for the film's success: "This is a good action movie, and Ernie did an amazing job. He's totally creative. He can solve anything. No matter what is thrown at him, he never loses it. He would stay focused. If something was too difficult, he would think of a way around it. The crew would do anything for him because he's such a genuine guy." Shaw goes on to state that there was no one else he would have for the job other than Barbarash, "He knew what Jean-Claude needed, and he protects him in terms of knowing what to stay away from and what to work with, which is important with any actor and their relationship to their director. When I started putting this movie together, Ernie was the only guy I was going to make it with."

One of the main draws to a movie like Pound of Flesh is the hard-hitting action that goes with it. Fans of Van Damme expect his graceful butterfly kicks, and fans will get their fill of his own style of martial arts in the film, but they'll also be pleasantly surprised that Jujitsu and MMA-style martial arts have been worked into the fight scenes. The fights, choreographed by John Salvitti, come fast and hard in the film.

"John and I are good together, great," says Van Damme. "He came up with some great moves because, you know, Jujitsu, it's something. It's like spaghetti, you know? Jujitsu is kind of difficult for me, but John knew how to do those moves, the arm bar, all that stuff. To me, I like to stay up 'cause I'm so good with my fists, and my legs..." He pauses. "In fact, Jujitsu, it's cool. It's calculated. And you need a great conditioning and John brought me that essence and those techniques on the set. So I want to say thank you again to John, and hopefully the people will love the fight scenes."

Barbarash, who compliments Salvitti and his work on the film says, "It was great to have someone on the set to show us rather than just talk about it. He did a lot of intricate work on the film. It was new for me and it was new for Jean-Claude. It was interesting because Jean-Claude's fans still want to see him do the stuff that he normally does, but how do we weave that into the new choreography? We tried to do both sets of things. It took time."

Fight choreographer John Salvitti, who trained Jean-Claude for his fights on the film, has also worked closely with Donnie Yen on Flashpoint, Special I.D., and Kung Fu Killer, and he admits that Van Damme was a huge influence on him. "He was one of the key people in martial arts and action cinema. He opened doors. He was one of the reasons why I was enamored with the martial arts. I lifted weights and followed ‘The Muscles From Brussels.’" Salvitti also enjoys Van Damme's analogy of Jujitsu being "like spaghetti." He laughs, "I love his analogy! It's an awesome description. You never know where the fight might go in a real-world situation. It can go anywhere. He would understand that better than most. He's been there so long. You have to be able to switch things at the turn of a dime. A guy is throwing punches, he might grab your ankle suddenly and break your ankle. The next thing you know, you're off balance. You can't punch anymore. Suddenly, the spaghetti analogy ... it's uncontrollable. The fight is going to move in different directions. That's how the choreography for Pound of Flesh was born. I have to force myself as a choreographer to think like that."

Salvitti also says he tried to imagine Van Damme's next evolutionary step as an action star: "I would fantasize, ‘What do I want to see Jean-Claude Van Damme doing in a film?’ Or any film star I've worked with. What would I want to see them doing in a movie? In this case, I just wanted to see—and with the injury his character has in the film—I wanted to see him grounded and I wanted to see him explode a little bit. I believe we succeeded with that."

Another integral aspect of Pound of Flesh is co-star Darren Shahlavi, who plays a villain named Goran in the film. Shahlavi, who unexpectedly and tragically passed away earlier this year of a heart attack, was a martial arts action star on the rise. He'd played opposite Donnie Yen in Ip Man 2 and opposite Steven Seagal in several features, including Born to Raise Hell.

"I saw his work and I went, ‘Wow!’" remembers director Barbarash. "He fit right in. The role in Pound of Flesh was interesting for him, and he really brought it to life. He was a huge Van Damme fan, and it was a thrill for him to be in this. I was so happy that he decided to come play with us." Producer Shaw adds, "He was very professional and worked very closely with the actors and the stunt guys. His performance was really good. His impact on all of us was tremendous." Salvitti, who was immensely impressed with Shahlavi's professionalism, calls him "a consummate professional" and that "he loved the martial arts." Salvitti adds, "He'd stop at nothing to get the absolute best out of himself as well as whom he was working with. He had a collaborative spirit, and he was selfless." Barbarash also chimes, "He was such a great guy to work with. He would do anything and he was so good at what he did. He was one of the team. He's exactly the kind of person you want to keep working with. [His death] was just such a tragedy."

The beauty of movies like Pound of Flesh is that they are made purely to entertain its audience. With an international and world-renowned action star like Jean-Claude Van Damme at the center of it, the movie possesses a certain gravitas, knowing that he did most of his own stunts, and that he's still working hard to please his fans. "I think Jean-Claude is very happy and proud of the film," says producer Shaw. "He considers it one of his best films in a while." To his fans, Van Damme shouts out, "Thank you so much [for putting] me up there. Because of you, I am what I am today." Salvitti, who insists that audiences have become more sophisticated over the years and will appreciate the action this film offers, says, "Audiences are so keen and hypersensitive to combat and action. They know what's real. They see it now. That brand of real—whether it's in The Avengers or in Pound of Flesh—they know it. That's what makes MMA so special."

Salvitti goes on to elaborate on what audiences have come to expect in terms of fight choreography and his role as the fight coordinator: "I'm a martial arts choreographer in the traditional sense of the word. They're a lot of expectations for the fan base. You want to push all those buttons, but ultimately the story dictates what the audience will be. [Pound of Flesh] is basically an action thriller more than it is a martial arts action film in the traditional sense." He does admit to concerns over how the audience might respond to Van Damme's use of MMA techniques in his fighting style for the film, "I actually worry a little bit," he says, "because people might say, ‘Where's the three-minute fight?’ It would be out of character to have these longer fights, because Jean-Claude's character has a missing kidney. We were always striving to be believable so the audience doesn't go, ‘Oh, that isn't believable.’ We're already pushing the envelope a little bit, so the fights aren't meant to be ... when I designed these fights—it was like five or six fights ... I tried for them to be one whole piece of action. Each fight was a piece of a bigger fight. The action is really character-driven. I felt for the characters. I was happy that I felt for them while I was making this film. It helped me to engage in my choreography. Let's tell a story through the fights. Van Damme's character had surgery, he's on morphine, so we had the opening fight where he jumped a little bit, but later, we kept him grounded for a reason."

For Barbarash, the film is not just an action movie, but "the chance to work with really good material, a story that everyone would enjoy, and a chance to work with people I hope to keep working with. That's the gift that Pound of Flesh gave me."