Ron Smoorenburg (Ron Smoorenburg) was born on April 30, 1974 in Holland. He is one of the few Dutch fighters who managed to succeed in Hollywood. In addition, it is worth mentioning Bas Rutten (Bas Rutten) and Rob Kamana (Rob Kaman) Smoorenburg began training at a very young age and by the age of 23 he made his first “breakthrough” - he starred in the role of a villain in a film Jackie Chanа "Who am I?".
After that, his career took off, and not so long ago Smoorenburg finished filming the film “Eagle Way” (The Eagle Path), where he had to fight none other than himself Jean-Claude Van Damme. In this interview Smoorenburg talks about how he took up martial arts, about his work with Jackie Chan, about his life in Thailand and what he prefers to do in his free time.
Ron, please tell us about how you started training in martial arts and when you decided to pursue a career in film? Since childhood or at a more mature age?
Ron Smoorenburg: I started with judo, but my real passion for martial arts came after watching “Young Master” with Jackie Chan. Those were good times, “Rocky 4” appeared and a series about ninjas called “Master”, very popular in Holland. Everyone in my neighborhood was making “stars” and creating various weapons. In the video store we had a separate section with action movies on VHS videotapes. A few years later I saw Bloodsport with Jean-Claude Van Damme and it became my biggest inspiration. I started practicing Kyokushin karate, and on my street I knocked all the leaves off the trees. Was obsessed with stretching, holding legs and kicking. After the kicks, many holes appeared in the walls of my parents’ house, and I had to cover them with posters. People said that I was a boring and crazy person, that I trained all the time and only talked about movies and fights.
One fantasy guy told me that I could become an action star because I had what it takes: I have good kicks, I move well, and I have the right looks. When we were alone or meeting with friends, he always asked me to demonstrate a couple of punches and combinations. So I felt like I could actually handle it.
According to IMDB, you have a black belt and 4th dan in free-fighting. Can you tell our readers what this fighting style is? Free fight? How does it differ from traditional martial arts?
Ron Smoorenburg: Among other things, I wanted to become a good fighter, and I was sure that everything in “Bloodsport” was for real, I wanted to become the same. At the age of 15 I became the Dutch karate champion and won my first free-fight tournament. In those days, free-fighting was not similar to today's MMA; then they were just starting to experiment with it. There were more differences between fighters with their own styles, and some points of the rules were “crude.” But this is exactly why free fighting has become so special to me. If you watch the first UFC championship, it is quite an interesting and exciting spectacle. I'm sure many will agree with this.
All my teachers and teammates were very experienced fighters, and I am grateful to them for that. I got my first free-fight lesson after I earned my black belt - I was told that my kicking was too much of a show-off. The teacher took me aside and almost knocked me out in sparring. He thought I would leave forever, but I like this kind of training, and in 9 years I earned 4th dan. To be honest, I’m not particularly interested in belts, I’m more worried about myself as a fighter.
Ron, please tell us about how you started acting in films? According to IMDB, you starred in a Jackie Chan film for the first time...
Ron Smoorenburg: Free fighting was fine, my teacher saw me as an excellent free fighter. But then I set a record for the highest kick (11 feet / 3 m. 35 cm), and immediately after that Jackie Chan came to Holland to film his film “Who Am I?” Many people wanted to take part in the filming, but I just couldn’t get there. But he continued to call the agency to recruit actors. As a result, I got a cameo role as a businessman. I said that I could act in some kind of fight, but the Dutch stuntmen made fun of me and advised me to jump from the roof to first prove whether I could handle it... On the set, everyone was busy with their own affairs, no one wanted to talk to me. But one rather elderly Jackie Chan stuntman told me to bring my “show reel”.
I didn’t even know what it was, but when I got home, I took a video of myself. The next day, at lunch, Jackie watched the tape, and 5 minutes later his whole team asked me to audition. I did well and got a role in the key fight of the film.
How was it working with Chan? Action fans think he's not easy to work with, given all the crazy stunts and fights... Share your impressions.
Ron Smoorenburg: In my entire life, I have never had a job with such high demands as Jackie Chan. In the on-screen battle, I showed everything I was capable of. Even if you've been training all your life, being on set with someone who's made 40 films before requires the ability to adapt quickly. The advantage was that I was given the opportunity to show a large number of kicks, but soon after the start of filming, when performing a combination of kicks, a stunt double replaced me, and I could personally perform it. Now, 13 years later, I understand why this happened. Considering the tense atmosphere on set, you can understand why many actors are dubbed from time to time. But if you know that you can do it yourself, it’s not very pleasant. Then I had to get used to the incredibly fast rhythm that Jackie Chan set. Anyway, the length of the fight was quite long and I showed a lot of things. Everything I studied for more than one year. All the films I did after that, with Tony Jaa, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donnie Yen, were not as difficult as the film with Jackie Chan. But this is the best way to learn something, I am very grateful to it.
You currently live in Thailand. Why not go back to Holland or straight to the USA, where the film industry is more developed?
Ron Smoorenburg: In 2000, I moved to Hong Kong, the capital of martial arts films. Acting in Hong Kong films is not an easy task, sometimes you have to perform very dangerous stunts. I returned back to Holland, but I simply could not stay there. I really missed Asia. Tony Jaa was a rising star at the time, and when I arrived in Thailand, I played a role in “Tom Yum Goong” and then starred in a commercial with him. In American films, close-ups and cuts are overused, sometimes you can’t see what’s happening at all. And in Tony Jaa's films you can actually see how the punch hits the target. And this is exactly what I learned.
Recently in Thailand you starred in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s film “The Eagle’s Path”. Tell us about how the filming went, and what were your impressions of working with JCVD?
Ron Smoorenburg: Working with Jean-Claude Van Damme was the ultimate dream, and we had a fight together in Eagle's Way. Van Damme is very passionate about his work and has a lot of experience. He is a good person and worries about the actors during filming. Imagine if Van Damme didn’t exist... Now there would be no MMA/free-fight (the idea of “Bloody Sport”), or Trix, which are based on his flexible kicks. Van Damme created a new era of action films, everyone should understand that.
In your opinion, how is the Thai film industry developing now?
Ron Smoorenburg: The good thing about the Thai film industry is that people from all over the world come here to make films. Here in Bangkok, I have acted in Thai, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and Hollywood films. The last film was “Largo Winch 2” with Sharon Stone. Great shot.
Judging by your Facebook page, you are not only an actor, but also a web designer. Are you self-employed or part of a design company?
Ron Smoorenburg: I like mental development, I like to come up with something, so at times I create websites dedicated to action films, draw and develop my creative skills, which are necessary in everything. Plus, it balances out your life. If you're tired from training, you can relax and start creating. A good balance is the key to success in life.
Author: T. Teymur
Source: today.az
Translation: EvilDollaR
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Tags: Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ron Smoorenburg, Tony JAA
Tags: Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ron Smoorenburg, Tony JAA
Sorry, I made a mistake, of course in 98...
He’s the one, for sure, I once had the chance to shake his hand (I’m talking about Allan). :) And after watching Ron back in 1995, I really liked his foot technique. By the way, Jackie Chan seemed to talk about his dissatisfaction with Ron in the film “Jackie Chan: My Tricks.”
And I read in one interview with Ron that Jackie was dissatisfied with him mainly because he constantly tried to catch up with him and kick him. By the face. Hurt. :) This is understandable - the person took part in real battles and then ended up on a film set where everything is not real. There was a similar feature in “Merantau” with Iko Yuwais. He, too, did not immediately get used to this situation, but there was no such tension as Jackie Chan’s, of course.
Anyway, Ron is a great kicker, and he's a pretty good choreographer too. Take, for example, the same “Bangkok Adrenaline”.
Ron was doubled by Jackie Chan's stuntman Bradley James Allan. Known for the film "Magnificent" with the same Jackie Chan!
Jackie Chan was very, very dissatisfied with Ron's speed qualities... He simply could not keep up with Jackie Chan, so Jackie replaced Ron with a double in particularly difficult elements of the fight. In this regard, Ron noted the film “Who Am I” as his most difficult work.