Jason Statham hangs out with Frank Mir back in the day. | Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
The British action hero has built a career around being the real deal on and off the screen.
Jason Statham first came to prominence as a tough-talking bare-knuckle boxing promoter in the Guy Ritchie film Snatch. Since then he’s grown into an action movie box office star, with roles like the Transporter, and most notably the Expendables and Fast and Furious franchises. All told, his movies have earned over $1.5 billion, making him one of the most reliable talents in Hollywood.
Here are some fun facts about the 52 year old actor and dedicated martial artist.
Before he became an actor, he was an elite diver. Competing for the UK, Statham almost made it to Olympics. The fact he didn’t still bothers him. Here is a clip of Statham back in his diving days, and not performing very well at all, according to the commentator.
Statham is adamant about doing his own stunts. Widely reviewed as a somewhat limited actor, it seems Statham knows just what he can bring to the table, and that is world class athleticism. Notably, he has dangled from a helicopter in Crank (2006), his feet 3,000 ft from the ground. “It’s a weird thing,” Statham told The Los Angeles Times. “People ask, `Did you have to train?’ How do you train for hanging out of a helicopter? You just go and do it.” In Transporter 2 (2005), Statham made the jump from the jet ski into the back of the school bus himself.
However, his stunt work doesn’t stop there. He also does his own stunt driving. Famously, Statham was behind the wheel of a 3 ton truck on set of Expendables 3 (2014) when the brakes failed. He plunged straight into the Black Sea. “It’s the closest I’ve ever been to drowning…It was a very harrowing experience,” he said at the time.
While he has high praise for martial artists such as Bruce Lee, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan, and others who are really doing the work, he’s not shy about throwing out his opinion on superhero movies. “You slip on a cape and you put on the tights and you become a superhero? They’re not doing anything! They’re just sitting in their trailer. It’s absolutely, 100 percent created by stunt doubles and green screen. How can I get excited about that?”
The actor has his purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has also trained extensively in Wing Chun kung fu, karate and kickboxing. Guy Ritchie, the director who gave Statham his break in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) has his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. During the press tour for that film, the two liked to get in some sparring. “I remember when we started out, we’d go on a press tour for Lock, Stock… and we’d be moving all the furniture out of the way in the hotel room, trying to choke each other out.”
Statham is a huge fan of MMA, and regularly attends events. He also performed alongside Randy Couture in The Mechanic (2011).
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Photo by Ethan Miller/WireImage
When Guy Ritchie found him, he was selling black market jewelry on London street corners. Taking a gander at this interview in Esquire, he seems to really miss the work. A lot. He was also working as a male model, having been discovered through sports photographers during his diving career. However, his work for The French Connection wasn’t paying all his bills, so he returned to the work he had learned from his father. Ritchie was looking for a guy who could play a hoodlum, so Statham was a perfect fit. In late 2019, it was announced Ritchie and Statham would reunite for a big money thriller from Lionsgate, but who knows what will happen with the project in the wake of 2020.
Not all of Statham’s movies are good movies. To his credit, he knows this. In an interview with Esquire, when asked if his reaction upon first viewing a movie is, “oh no.” He answered, “Yeah, I think I’ve said that more often than not.”