Born in Derbyshire and practicing Kung fu, kickboxing, and karate in the youth, Jason Statham became the first British action hero in Hollywood. Now both a film producer and actor, Jason has been portraying tough, Machiavellian, and irredeemable characters for a long time.
After the commercial success of his Transporter Trilogy (2002-08), he also starred in a variety of action-thriller movies such as The Italian Job, Crank, The Mechanic, Spy, The Bank Job, and Mechanic Resurrection. Through these roles, along with others, he established himself as a mainstream hero and actor. Even after his massive success in the industry, he continued mesmerizing the audience with his iconic roles and performance in the action series The Expendables and Fast & Furious.
So far, the roles Jason Statham has played made a commendable impact on his fans. At the same time, he has also been criticized for lacking the depth and variety in his roles. According to the BBC News report, during the period 2002 and 2017, Jason generated US$1.5 billion in ticket sales. It certainly makes him one of the most lovable and bankable stars in the Hollywood industry.
Early Life:
Jason Statham, the son of Eileen- a dancer, and Barry Statham, a street seller, always wanted a stable and interesting life. His father was working at odd jobs at that time as a house painter, coal miner, and singer. He grew up learning martial arts and football, which his friend Vinnie Jones introduced him to. He even played for a local grammar school. He also shared a passion for diving and became a member of Britain’s National Swimming Squad.
Even his greatest fans don’t know this, but Jason Statham competed as a diver in the 1990 Commonwealth Games. Statham’s life started to transform when he was spotted by Sports Promotion and asked for modeling. He also signed deals with Tommy Hilfiger, Levis, and Griffin for modeling contracts during 1996 for the spring/summer collection. Jason also made appearances in few music videos such as “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.
Rise to Prominence: 2000- 2010
While working for the French Connection, Jason got a film project that wanted to cast him as Bacon in the 1998 crime comedy thriller Lock, Stock, and Two Barrels. The movie gained recognition by critics and audiences, and Statham was put in the public eye. He was paid $6,937 for his role.
Later on, Guy Ritchie made a second collaboration with him in the 2000 film Snatch alongside Brad Pitt, Benicio del Toro, and Dennis Farina. The movie earned $80 billion in the box-office, and Jason was paid $20,760nfor his role.
Statham continued on his path to success by working in two movies in 2001- Ghost of Mars and The One. Shortly, he got more offers and landed the role of Frank Martin in the action movie The Transporter. His knowledge of Wing Chun Kung Fu, kickboxing, and karate came in handy for his stunts. He also did supporting roles in Mean Machine, The Italian Job, and Cellular as the lead villain. In the upcoming years, he strived, and with his role in Death Race, he got championed as the best track record of any contemporary movie star. In the Empire Magazine, Chris Hewitt credited the film to establish Statham as the new action hero.
In 2010, Jason played a significant role alongside stars Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, and Mickey Rourke in the action film The Expendables. That film was a commercial success and earned a total of $274 million worldwide.
Commercial Expansion: 2011- 2015
Jason Statham got the chance to return to British film by starring as Detective Sergeant Tom Brant in the police drama Blitz. Although the movie received reviews as oddly entertaining, it didn’t have much effect on his career. He then signed up Killer Elite, which was based on real events that were subject of the fictional novel of The Feather Men. Though his role as an assassin was iconic, the movie was panned by the critics.
Working with director Taylor Hackford, he began filming Parker, which was released in January 2013. In that film, he portrayed the role of Parker, a criminal antihero which was previously played by Mel Gibson in Payback and Lee Marvin in Point Blank. At that point, the New York Times made a statement that Statham is made of entirely muscle and scar tissue, and he is comfortable with his limitations as an actor. Till that point, he has already yielded over one billion US dollars in the box office.
After reprising his role as Lee Christmas in The Expendables (2012), Jason made a cameo appearance at the end of Fast & Furious 6, which made his fan excited about his upcoming role in the series. He reprised the role of Deckard Shaw, the brother of Owen Shaw as the main antagonist in Furious 7. The film was released in April 2015 and was a huge success.
A New Era of Success: 2015- present
With the action-comedy Spy starring alongside Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, and Jude Law, Jason shows his comedic side to the audience. Jason got a nomination for the Critic’s Choice Award for Best Actor in Comedy for his role in Spy.
In late 2016, it was announced that Mechanic: Resurrection is on its way for production where Statham will reprise his role. The movie earned over $109.4 million worldwide, making it a highly commercial success. Forbes Magazine gave him the recognition as the seventh biggest earner who has the most commercial success with his solo film venture. He was again asked to re-join the Fast & Furious franchise in 2016 for The Fate of the Furious in 2017, which later became the third highest-grossing film of 2017 and 12th highest-grossing of all-time hits.
In 2018, Jason worked in action-horror The Meg, which earned $527.8 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing US- Chinese co-production film of all time. Due to his esteemed work, he also got a standalone movie with Dwayne Johnson in Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), earning $758 million worldwide.
Talk about the long road he traveled so far, right!!!