From black market wheeler dealer to Olympic diver to Hollywood movie star; Jason Statham’s career has been nothing if not varied.
Born in London in 1972, Statham’s future seemed determined by his parents’ pasts: a life of off-the-back-of-a-truck trading and street theatre was on the cards – until, that is, he discovered diving. It soon became a passion and resulted in a 12th-place triumph in the 1992 World Championships. But a model scout recognised that diving wasn’t Statham’s only talent, and he was quickly snapped up for a French Connection campaign, at which point he met the then little-known Guy Ritchie.
At that time, casting had only just got under way for Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, and Ritchie decided to give Statham an audition with a difference. The challenge? To pretend he was an illegal street vendor and sweet talk Ritchie into buying some dodgy jewellery. Evidently Statham had a way with words, as he was cast as Bacon and rocketed to fame upon the film’s release in 1998.
Since then, his love life has brought him almost as much notoriety as his film roles: he dated Brit stunner Kelly Brook for seven years until she left him for Billy Zane. Statham was reportedly heartbroken and even tried to win Brook back via her father – but despite unsuccessful attempts to rekindle the relationship, Statham continued to go from strength to strength in his professional life. ‘I think it’s all to do with my good friend and manager, Steve Chasman,’ he muses. ‘He scooped me off the streets when I came to Hollywood and has been instrumental in finding me things that play to my strengths.’ He’s not wrong: Lock, Stock follow-up Snatch was another smash hit, and he’s subsequently appeared in the remake of The Italian Job, and taken lead roles in 2002’s The Transporter and its 2005 sequel. This was followed by Crank, released in 2006, and The Bank Job; Transporter 3 and Crank 2 are on the way.
In the early years, Statham pushed himself to the limit training in martial arts and gymnastics, and this, combined with his underwater prowess, has led to him doing many of his own stunts. This has come in particularly useful in his latest movie, futuristic thriller Death Race, which sees him play Jensen Ames; a prisoner who’s just six weeks from release after an eight-year spell, having been wrongly accused of murdering his wife.
So how do you prepare for a role like that? ‘We had a whole day at Corcoran Prison and it was one of the most frightening places that I’d ever been – it was like soldiers preparing for war,’ Statham recalls. ‘There was this fella – a mass murderer – he’d done X amount of decapitations on the outside, and several on the inside. He came up to the glass and he had these really cold, dark murderer’s eyes. Then he said, “I know who you are. Jason Statham.” And we all went, “How does he know that?” I’m probably on his list! It was quite bizarre.’
Even disregarding the odd psychopathic encounter, preparations for the movie were tough. Statham was on a ‘no alcohol, no sugar and no refined carbs’ diet, and a Navy Seal dragged him through grueling 5am rowing machine workouts every day. But despite being in peak physical condition, he wasn’t tempted to make it a permanent way of life for a single second. ‘To try to keep that regime up for the period of a movie is b****y hard,’ he says. ‘You just have to hang up the gloves and order a pizza.’ We tend to agree.
So, back to Death Race, which was, after all, the official reason for our chat. It’s set in 2020 and the US jails are overcrowded to bursting point (sound familiar?). A money-grabbing TV company has the idea of clearing a few cells by killing the inmates off in the most violent sport ever known to man: Death Race. Basically a three-day competition between some of the most vicious criminals the world has ever seen. Ames is told he must compete, and so he climbs aboard his monster car (which comes complete with machine gun, flame thrower and grenade launcher) and embarks upon his fight for survival.
Naturally, Statham was keen to do his own stunts. ‘I had to do a lot of pressurising. They got really concerned because the track had so many pylons and girders sticking out that they were s****ing themselves, thinking that I was going to smack into them. But once I’d done a few laps, they started relaxing a little bit; they let me get stuck in.’
A massive car fan – Statham’s a great believer in German manufacturers and currently drives a white 208 GT2 Porsche, along with a host of Audis. He was in his element ragging the vehicle around the track; but did they let him keep the car? ‘No. I was very upset about that, but they’re not roadworthy. It’s hard to get past the police with two mini-guns on the bonnet,’ he jokes.
On a serious note, what with all this body-building and car racing, we wonder if Statham ever feels in danger of being type-cast, falling into an action movie rut. There’s no doubt that it must be difficult to act while concentrating on stunts and choreography (‘It’s like playing the drums; you have to split your brain up,’ he explains) – but action movies aren’t renowned for cleaning up at the Oscars. Doesn’t he fancy trying a different kind of role? ‘Well, if you do all the casting for the movies maybe you can get me one,’ he laughs. ‘I’m very happy doing what I’m doing. There’s nothing to say that I wouldn’t be happier doing a romantic comedy, but the fact is people seem to like me in action movies.’
Even if he does remain confined to his action hero pigeonhole, we get the feeling Statham will be happy as Larry just as long as there are fast cars and guns. He has a friend with a class three licence – basically a gun-lover’s golden ticket: ‘It means we can shoot everything; Uzis, pump-action shotguns, you name it. You go there with a suitcase full of ammunition and just fire way into the hills. It’s one of the best kicks in the world. Boys will be boys, eh?’ You can’t say fairer than that.
Still smoking?
We can’t quite believe it’s been 10 years since Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels hit the big screen. Time Out finds out what Statham’s costars have done with themselves over the past decade.
Jason Flemyng (Tom)
Before Lock, Stock was even over, Flemyng was getting into trouble: he had to work the four days of re-shoots for free because he owed so much money to the film’s backers for the poker games they’d played between takes. Of course, we then saw the Putney-born geezer in Snatch, but he’s also appeared in 2001’s From Hell, an adaptation of the Alan Moore comic book, played Dr Jekyll and Edward Hyde in The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2003 (another Alan Moore comic), and acted in a number of French films.
Dexter Fletcher (Soap)
Lock, Stock by no means made Fletcher’s career – he’d already starred as Baby Face in Bugsy Malone (1976) at the age of 10, and acted in children’s show Press Gang. In the past 10 years he’s been in war series Band Of Brothers and Layer Cake but, dare we say it, he’s recently suffered something of a fall from grace, now playing the head concierge in cheesy BBC series Hotel Babylon.
Nick Moran (Eddie)
In 1999 Moran starred in New Blood, while 2000 saw him work alongside Joseph Fiennes and Rhys Ifans in Rancid Aluminium (no, we’ve never heard of it either). But what really made our day was learning that Moran was also in 2004’s Soccer Dog: European Cup. Supporting actor to a pooch? Really, what was he thinking?
Vinnie Jones (Big Chris)
The most successful – and unlikely – acting career has been forged by ex-football player and all-round tough nut Vinnie Jones. Since 1998 he’s been in about five films a year, highlights of which include Gone In 60 Seconds (2000), Mean Machine (2001), and of course Garfield: A Tail Of Two Kitties (2006). Current projects include sibling rivalry yarn The Heavy and Year One, a comedy set in Biblical times. Could be interesting.
Death Race is out in cinemas on October 2.
