Since we last saw the guy who played a karate jock ad nauseam, Jean-Claude Van Damme racked up serial marriages, spread his seed to produce six children, struggled with cocaine addiction, fought a custody battle and moved to Hong Kong. With more than a decade of life experience under his belt, Jean-Claude is back with an arthouse makeover revealing his vulnerabilities.

"It's just a name," he says of the world-famous moniker Muscles from Brussels. "Today it's difficult for...