The Predator was virtually certain to like performing splits. Jean-Claude Van Damme, who was unknown at the time, was cast as the vicious extraterrestrial hunter in 1987’s Predator. Van Damme, on the other hand, was sacked early in production and replaced by Kevin Peter Hall.

Why Van Damme was sacked is something of a film urban legend, with no one agreeing on what transpired. This is maybe the greatest explanation for why Van Damme was sacked as Predator: Van Damme was fired as Predator because he refused to stop kickboxing. Joel Hynek, visual effects supervisor, stated:

I was in Joel Silver’s trailer, and he had called for Jean-Claude to come see him. And he comes in the trailer and Joel starts saying, ‘You gotta stop kickboxing!’ — because [Jean-Claude] wanted to kickbox — and he was telling him, ‘Look, the Predator is not a kickboxer.’ And Van Damme was like (Van Damme voice), ‘I must do that; that’s how I see the Predator.’ And Joel said, ‘Well, you’re fired. Get out of here.’ And Van Damme says, “Kiss my balls!” and walks out, and that was the end of that.

It’s the 30th anniversary of Predator, and The Hollywood Reporter has compiled a vast oral history of how the classic sci-fi thriller was developed. If you’re a Predator enthusiast, this is a must-read because it recounts the various difficulties the production faced. It also tries to uncover the riddle behind Jean-Claude Van Damme’s termination, and the truth is that no one knows for sure. There are other versions of the story, including this one by Joel Hynek.

When it all went down, the visual effects supervisor was with producer Joel Silver, and he claims Van Damme was fired because he was attempting to have the Predator practise kickboxing.

Because the Predator isn’t actually a mixed martial arts extraterrestrial, Silver instructed Van Damme to back off. When Van Damme answered no, Silver dismissed him, as he does with every performer who refuses to participate. Van Damme deserves credit for telling Silver to kiss his balls, even if it was mainly his fault. That took…you know what I mean.

If there is one thing that is certain about Van Damme’s termination, it is that no one knows what happened. THR gathered six distinct reports of what happened, three of them are first-person experiences.

Everyone agrees that Van Damme disliked the costume (as did everyone else involved) and had a falling out with Joel Silver. Van Damme was too short to play the Predator, he kept passing out from the heat, Fox execs didn’t like the suit and Van Damme was collateral damage, he complained too much about the filming circumstances, and he destroyed the $20,000 head for the outfit. All of them are separate, comprehensive reasons why no one is on