How Volvo created the Jean-Claude Van Damme ‘Epic Split’ video

“The stunt is real and is performed in just one take,” said Anders Vilhelmsson, public relations manager for the Volvo Trucks brand. “It’s a daring stunt but we had full control. There was never any real danger involved.”

Van Damme’s feet aren’t secured to the mirrors, video director Andreas Nilsson said, “but we had him rigged so that if he would fall off he wouldn’t die obviously. We didn’t want to be responsible for killing the Muscles from Brussels.”

The stunt, meant to advertise Volvo Trucks’ new dynamic steering system, has drawn more than eight million views on YouTube since the video was posted on Nov. 13.

It was filmed by Nilsson on a closed-off airstrip in Spain called Ciudad Real, located just south of Madrid. Prior to filming, the production team rehearsed the stunt for three days. The final version had to be completed within just 15 minutes – from 8.05 am to 8.20 am - when the sunlight was just right.

“The film you see is the first take. But obviously we had tons of rehearsals,” Nilsson said. “The tension was really high. I saw a tough stunt coordinator swell up after we nailed it. That might actually be the nicest memory from the shoot.”

The trucks go backward in the video because “we all know that going in reverse is a bit more difficult than going forward,” Vilhelmsson said. “We felt that would be the ultimate test, to have the trucks go in reverse with someone standing on the side mirrors performing a side split. And we knew that if anyone would be able to do that, it would have to be Jean-Claude Van Damme.”