>Steven Seagal's movie career began with a bet between two Hollywood executives, one which claimed anyone could be made into a star with the proper marketing, and one who doubted it. To prove his point, the first executive decided to make a starring vehicle for his Aikido trainer, none other than Seagal himself. That was the low-budget crime thriller ABOVE THE LAW, who became an unexpected box office hit. And thus the legend was born.
>In ABOVE THE LAW, Seagal goes against the fictional Chicago mob, and the real-life Chicago mob was none too pleased. Seagal was then coerced by them into starring in a series of action movies that were actually part of an elaborate money laundering scheme. In the late 1990's, after experiencing a self-described "spiritual awakening" through Buddhism, Seagal reneged on making violent action movies for the mob and even testified against them... Only to go right back to making violent action movies, this time for the Serbian government.
>As Segal's star began to rise, he began to believe his own hype. At the height of his fame, he once claimed to be immune to a judo choke hold. To prove this claim, he instigated stuntman and martial arts legend Gene LeBell to choke him. LeBell obliged. As it turns out, Seagal was not, and probably still is not, immune to judo. LeBell choked Seagal until he passed out and soiled his pants.
>During a party at Sylvester Stallone's house in the 1996, Seagal once again ran his mouth, this time about being able to beat up Jean-Claude Van Damme, not knowing that Van Damme was also at the party. Van Damme, at the height of his cocaine addiction and nurturing a lot of rage over being blacklisted from major Hollywood pictures, challenged Seagal to settle the score with a one-on-one fight, but Seagal bailed, claiming it wouldn't be honorable. Seagal left for another party, but Van Damme followed him there and later to a nightclub fishing for a fight before Seagal finally managed to evade him.
