Jason Statham

At 56 years old, Jason Statham has this physical status:

Jason Statham (born 26 July 1967) is an English actor and film director.

Typecast as the antihero and is known for his role in violent, irredeemable, and machiavellian characters.

Statham has regularly performed his own stage combat and stunts throughout his film career.

He was born in Derbyshire, England, and started practising kung fu, kickboxing, and karate recreationally in his youth when working at local market stalls.

He was chosen by the United Kingdom's national diving team to compete in the 1990 Commonwealth Games as a passionate footballer and diver.

He was hired to model for French Connection, Tommy Hilfiger, and Levi's in a variety of commercial campaigns less than a year ago.

Statham's work in stalls inspired his role in Guy Ritchie's crime films Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000). Frank Martin appeared in The Transporter trilogy (192002–08), owing to the film's commercial success.

He began starring in a number of heist and action thriller films, including The Italian Job (2004), War (2005), The Bank Job (2008), Spy (2011), and Mechanic: Resurrection (2016).

He found more commercial success in the action series The Expendables (2010–14) and the Fast and Furious franchise.

In Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), Deckard Shaw, 2005, and Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw (2019). His work as an actor and producer has been chastised for a lack of depth and variety in his career; however, he has been praised for leading the 2000s and 2010s action film revivals.

According to a BBC News survey, his film career from 2002 to 2017 brought in $11.5 billion (£1.1 billion) in ticket sales, making him one of the country's most profitable actors.

Early life

Jason Statham was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, the son of dancer Eileen (née Yates) and street vendor Barry Statham. In the Canary Islands, his father served odd jobs as a house painter, coal miner, and performer. Statham first moved to Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, where he later decided not to pursue his father's career in the local market stalls but instead concentrated on martial arts. He grew up with football player Vinnie Jones, with whom he would later appear. Jones introduced him to football, and Statham continued to play for the local grammar school (1978–1983), which he had attended since age 11, a passion he shared with diving. He participated in perfecting his dive skills on a daily basis and was a member of Britain's National Swimming Squad for 12 years. In the 10 meter, 3 meter, and 1 meter formats, he competed for England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in the 10 meter, 3 metre, and 1 meter competitions. In a 2003 interview with IGN, he said that his time with the national squad was "a great experience" and that "teaches you discipline, attention, and most importantly, keeps you out of danger."

Statham's career in the media began when he was discovered by the company Sports Promotions specialising in sports modeling while training at London's Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. During various modeling assignments in 1996, Tommy Hilfiger, Griffin, and Levi's were also signed by him. He began modelling for French Connection in 1997. "We picked Jason because our model wanted our model to look like a normal guy," a spokesperson for the high street clothing chain said. His appearance is just right for now: it's both masculine and not so male-model." However, he was still obliged to make ends meet as a street vendor, selling "fake perfume and jewelry on street corners." He made small appearances in a few music videos, including "Comin' On" by The Shamen in 1993, "Run to the Sun" by Erasure in 1994, and "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by The Beautiful South in 1995.

Personal life

Statham has been in a relationship with model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley since 2010. In January 2016, the couple announced their engagement. Jack Oscar, their son, was born in June 2017. Isabella James Statham's daughter was born on February 2nd, 2022. They live in Beverly Hills, California.

Statham is an avid wakeboarder, jet skiing, wind surfing, and rock climbing. He led a truck off the road into the Black Sea while filming in Varna for The Expendables 3. In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, he advocated for stunt performers to be given their own Academy Award category: "All of the stunt men—these are the unsung heroes." They really are. Nobody is giving them any credit. They're in danger of losing their necks. And then there are poncy actors pretending to be doing [the stunts]"

Source

Career

When working as a model for the French Connection, Guy Ritchie was introduced to fledgling British director Guy Ritchie who was directing a film and wanted to fill the role of a street-wise con artist. Ritchie cast him in his 1998 crime thriller Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels after learning about Statham's history as a black market salesman. Both critics and viewers loved the film, and it helped put Statham in the public eye. He was paid £5,000 for his role in the film. Statham's second collaboration with Ritchie appeared in the 2000 film Snatch, portraying the role of "Turkish." The film starring Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina, and Benicio del Toro earned more than $80 million in box-office sales. He was paid £30,000, 3 times the amount of his first film for his role in Snatch. In 2001, Statham was able to break into Hollywood and appear in two films: Ghosts of Mars, a science fiction action film, and The One.

Statham was given more film roles, and he was cast in the action film The Transporter, directed by Luc Besson in 2002. He has studied Wing Chun, karate, and kickboxing. Transporter 2 (2004) and Transporter 3 (2008) were two sequels produced by the film. He appeared in Mean Machine (2002), The Italian Job (2003), and Cellular (2004), in which he played the lead villain.

Statham was once more cast by Ritchie in his latest film, Revolver, which was a major and box office failure in 2005. In 2006, he appeared in the independent film London. In the same year, he appeared in the action film Crank for the first time. During the 2006 San Diego Comic-Convention, Statham was asked to advertise Crank. Statham appeared in The Bank Job and Death Race in 2008, a remake of Death Race 2000 (1975). Armond White, an American film critic, lauded Statham's ascension as an action film actor. White celebrated Statham's "best track record of any modern movie actor" on the occasion of the Death Race. White praised Statham's Transporter 3 as a prime example of kinetic pop art later in 2008. The film's founder, Chris Hewitt of Empire Magazine, described it as "a dour, drab affair," but others said the film would have credited Statham with "establishing Statham as a new action hero" as he was with gruff one-liners as he was with Jackie Chan-esque high-kicking."

Statham began writing a new film directed by David Peoples and Janet Peoples in 2009. "We've got a movie we're trying to do," Statham wrote in the vein of an old film, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It's not a remake or anything, but it's a little bit like that, about friendships and how greed contaminates these three people's lives. The Grabbers are the working title. In the 2009 film Crank: High Voltage, he reprised his role as Chev Chelios.

Statham appeared in the ensemble action film The Expendables in 2010, alongside fellow action stars Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, and Mickey Rourke, among others. Lee Christmas is a former SAS soldier and an expert at close quarters combat using knives. The film was extremely successful, debuting at number one at the box office in the United States, China, and India, grossing $274 million worldwide.

Arthur Bishop appeared in Statham's first film of the year. The Advertising Standards Authority barred a theatrical trailer depicting Statham's character "shooting a man's head off" for excessive brutality. Both in the United States and the United Kingdom praised his participation in The Mechanic's role. The Guardian praised his efforts in gaining "an exciting hitman thriller" as a result of "now-customary effectiveness." Statham was described as "sleek as a bullet" by the New York Times, and the film "a more effective recharge" of the original. Statham's "England's best export to action films in about a lifetime," The Daily Telegraph, a British brute with a gentlemanly spirit," The Daily Telegraph described him as "England's best export to action films in just about forever, a brute with a manly soul." Detective Sergeant Tom Brant, who appeared in the police drama Blitz, has returned to Britain to act in it. Cath Clake of The Guardian praised the film as "not half bad" and "oddly amusing." He was then cast in the action film Killer Elite. The film was based on true events that were the subject of Sir Ranulph Fiennes' book The Feather Men, which was based on true events. Danny, a statham played in Danny, who came out of retirement to save an old friend, a play by Robert De Niro. The film had a negative budget and was panned by the critics.

He began filming Parker for director Taylor Hackford in August 2011; the film was released in January 2013. Statham played Parker, the violent antihero who appeared in 1999's Payback and by Lee Marvin in 1967's Point Blank (although their characters were given different surnames). The actor in the film, A. O. Scott of The New York Times, is familiar with his limitations as an actor. In any case, his Parker is more of an axiom than a fully developed human being." According to a 2012 BBC News survey, his ten-year film career (2002 to 2012) brought in over $1.2 billion in the box office, making him one of the industry's most cash-flowing actors. In 2012, Lee Christmas reprised his role as Lee Christmas in The Expendables 2.

Statham's brother Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), who was in 2013 for the second time in Fast & Furious 6, was on display at the conclusion of the film's Fast & Furious 6. In Furious 7, which was released in April 2015, he resurrecting the role, this time as the principal antagonist. In addition, James Franco appeared in the thriller Homefront, written by Sylvester Stallone, and the British thriller Hummingbird headlined. Critics lauded the second film for raising Statham's acting skills to new heights. "Broadened] his dramatic palette," he says. Statham appeared in Calvin Harris' 2014 music video as one of the best car racers on the planet. In 2014, Lee Christmas appeared in The Expendables 3 as Lee Christmas. Despite being critically panned, the film will still gross $215 million against a $90 million budget.

Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law, and Rose Byrne appeared in Spy's action comedy in 2015. Statham's comedic side was particularly showcased in comparison to his more serious roles in the film, which was a commercial success. A Spy 2 was built in late 2015, with more screen time dedicated to Statham's character, Rick Ford, according to an Empire magazine article. For his role in Spy, he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor in a Comedy.

Statham was offered a three-film deal to resurrect the Transporter series in late 2015, but decided against it because he was not given the script until the signing date and unhappy with the company's compensation plan. Statham expressed interest in playing James Bond in the forthcoming Spectre film, according to an article by The Guardian. "There was no doubt Statham would walk the Bond walk," the Bond writer said. And speaking out about his talk can hardly be a problem with a woman whose accent has shifted between Sean Connery's Scottish brogue and Timothy Dalton's Welsh." Several calls from critics and the public to instate James Bond in a future film have exploded following the interview.

In late 2016, his sequel to his 2011 film The Mechanic was supposed to premiere as Mechanic: Resurrection. The film went on to become extremely successful in international film markets, grossing $109.4 million globally. According to Forbes, the film was Statham's "seventh-highest earner" and his most commercially lucrative solo film venture of his career.

During Super Bowl LI, he appeared alongside Gal Gadot in a 30-second super bowl commercial for Wix.com. According to CNET, the advertisement attracted 22 million viewer impressions. Statham was asked to re-join the Fast & Furious franchise once more in 2016. The Fate of the Furious, the ensuing film, was released in April 2017 to commercial success. Although the film received mixed feedback, Statham was praised for his comedic timing and on-screen chemistry with contemporaries. The film went on to be the third highest-grossing film of all time and the 12th highest-grossing film of all time.

Spy 2 was announced on February 15, 2018. However, Feig explained later in 2018 that although a Spy sequel may have been produced, "the studio hasn't expressed any concern" in the venture.

In the 2018 action-horror film The Meg, which was released on August 10, Statham played lead and former Naval captain Jonas Taylor. Statham swam with bull sharks in Fiji in order to brace for scenes where he swims in shark-infested waters. The film will gross $527.8 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing U.S.-Chinese co-production of all time.

Statham reprised his role as Deckard Shaw in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, a spin-off of the Fast & Furious franchise focusing on his and Dwayne Johnson's characters, in 2019. The film earned $758 million worldwide, becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of the year, with critical praise for Statham's role.

Source