Jason Statham

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

He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, gritty, or violent.

Jason Statham was born on 26 July 1967 in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, the son of dancer Eileen (née Yates) and street seller Barry Statham.

His father also worked odd jobs as a house painter, coal miner, and singer in the Canary Islands.

Statham moved to Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, where he initially chose not to follow his father's career working the local market stalls, instead practising martial arts.

He grew up with football player Vinnie Jones, alongside whom he would later act.

Jones introduced him to football, and Statham went on to play for the local grammar school (1978–1983), which he had attended since age 11, a passion that he shared with diving.

He practised daily in perfecting his diving techniques, and was a member of Britain's National Swimming Squad for 12 years.

An avid footballer and diver, he was a member of Britain's national diving team and competed for England in the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Shortly after, he was asked to model for French Connection, Tommy Hilfiger, and Levi's in various advertising campaigns.

He competed for England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in the 10 metre, 3 metre, and 1 metre competitions.

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.

While working as a model for French Connection, he was introduced to fledgling British director Guy Ritchie who was developing a film project and needed to fill the role of a street-wise con artist.

He was also signed by Tommy Hilfiger, Griffin, and Levi's for various modelling contracts during their 1996 spring/summer collections.

In 1997, he became a model for the clothing brand French Connection.

A spokesperson for the high street clothing chain said, "We chose Jason because we wanted our model to look like a normal guy. His look is just right for now: very masculine and not too male-modelly."

However, he was still forced to follow in his father's footsteps as a street seller to make ends meet, stating that he sold "fake perfume and jewellery on street corners".

His past history working at market stalls inspired his casting in the Guy Ritchie crime films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000).

After learning about Statham's past as a black market salesman, Ritchie cast him to play the role of "Bacon" in his 1998 crime comedy thriller Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

The movie was well received by both critics and audiences, and helped put Statham in the public eye.

For his role in the film he was paid UK £5,000.

Statham has been credited for leading the resurgence of action films during the 2000s and 2010s.

Statham's second collaboration with Ritchie came in the 2000 film Snatch, playing the role of "Turkish".

Cast alongside popular actors Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina, and Benicio del Toro, the movie earned more than $80 million in box-office revenue.

For his role in Snatch, he was paid UK £15,000, 3 times the amount of his first film.

Statham was able to break into Hollywood and appeared in two movies in 2001: the science fiction action horror film Ghosts of Mars and the science fiction martial arts action film The One.

The commercial success of these films led Statham to star as Frank Martin in the Transporter trilogy (2002–2008).

Statham was offered more film roles, and in 2002 he was cast as the lead role of driver Frank Martin in the action movie The Transporter, written by Luc Besson.

He has studied Wing Chun, karate, and kickboxing.

He also played supporting roles in Mean Machine (2002), The Italian Job (2003), and Cellular (2004) in which he played the lead villain.

After starring in a variety of heist and action-thriller films such as The Italian Job (2003), Crank (2006), War (2007), The Bank Job (2008), The Mechanic (2011), Spy (2015), and Mechanic: Resurrection (2016), he established himself as a Hollywood leading man.

He said in a 2003 interview with IGN that his time with the national squad was "a great experience" and one that "teaches you discipline, focus, and certainly keeps you out of trouble".

Statham's life in the media began when he was spotted by the agency Sports Promotions specialising in sports modelling while he was training at London's Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

However, he has also starred in commercially and critically unsuccessful films such as Revolver (2005), Chaos (2005), In the Name of the King (2007), 13 (2010), Blitz (2011), Killer Elite (2011), Hummingbird (2013), and Wild Card (2015).

The film spawned two sequels, Transporter 2 (2005) and Transporter 3 (2008).

In 2005, Statham was once again cast by Ritchie to star in his new project, Revolver, which was a critical and box office failure.

He played a dramatic role in the independent film London in 2006.

He regained commercial success as a part of the ensemble action series The Expendables (2010–2014) and the Fast & Furious franchise, playing Deckard Shaw in several films, including the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw (2019).

His film career through 2017 generated over $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) in ticket sales, making him one of the film industry's most bankable stars.

Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing, and karate recreationally in his youth while working at local market stalls.