Daniel Bernhardt's Fight Career Started With One Question on a Versace Set: “Who Can Kick?”
- Daniel Bernhardt met Jean-Claude Van Damme on a Versace commercial when Van Damme asked who could kick.
- That meeting led to no job, but a demo reel he cut got him “Bloodsport 2.”
- A reel that shows the work gets a performer hired; proximity to a name does not.
Posted: August 22, 2026
Years before The Matrix Reloaded, John Wick and Atomic Blonde, Daniel Bernhardt was booked as a model on a Bruce Weber–shot Versace jeans commercial in New York. Jean-Claude Van Damme was on the same job, and at some point he asked the room: who can kick? Bernhardt kicked. Van Damme liked what he saw and repositioned him in the shot. It is a small moment that says something working performers already know — on-camera martial ability is a castable skill, and the person who can actually deliver the move on the day gets moved to the front of frame.
What did not happen next is the more useful part of the story. Van Damme’s camp floated a possible job (later understood to be Double Impact) and nothing came of it. No call, no booking. What changed Bernhardt’s trajectory was what he did afterward: he cut a demo reel and put it in front of casting. That reel — not the commercial, not the introduction — landed him Bloodsport 2 as Alex Cardo, which turned into three sequels of sustained fight work and a three-decade run of screen combat, doubling and stunt performance across studio action.
For anyone building a fight-performance career, the takeaway is the unglamorous one: proximity to a name gets you a conversation, but a cut reel that shows the work is what gets you hired.
Learn more on IMDb: Bloodsport 2 (1996) · Daniel Bernhardt
