Entertainment

Jason Statham on why 'any granny' can master secret to Hollywood hardman success


Movie tough guy Jason Statham earns a thumping £16million a film but he pulls no punches when he assesses his own acting ability.

The brawny Brit is famed for action hero movies which display his athleticism to perfection.

He is a classic case of WYSIWYG – what you see is what you get.

And Statham candidly admits he doesn’t consider himself a good actor and says: “Even your grandma can look good in a fight scene.”

Ahead of his latest blockbuster – Fast and Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, out on Friday – Statham opens up about his rags-to-riches success story.

Make that rags to Ritchies – because it was Guy Ritchie who plucked him from obscurity for his first role in Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels in 1998.

Before that, he was a sportsman and represented Britain as a diver at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Statham – who turned 52 on Friday but is still superfit – said: “I am not an actor, really. I used to work jewellery and pinch jewellery on the streets.

“I was a sportsman for years. I am not really that thespian who can adapt and chameleon himself into different roles.

 

“I just got into this by being in the right place at the right time. I got plucked from obscurity into the movie industry – so it’s not like I’ve spent years honing how to do different accents or ‘working on my craft’, whatever that stupid line is.

“That doesn’t apply to me. I accept what I am good at… although I might not be good at any of it. I accept what I feel I am confident at and go with the flow in that direction.”

It’s a direction that has taken him to Hollywood and a £10million Beverly Hills mansion, where he lives with his Victoria’s Secret model fiancee Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 32, and their two-year-old son Jack.

James Bond star Daniel Craig, on £25million a film, is the only Brit to earn more per movie. Statham moved into the superstar bracket when he landed the role of Frank Martin in The Transporter, as an action man hired to deliver packages for unknown clients.

Transporter 2 and 3 followed, then The Mechanic, while The Expendables series alongside Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger catapulted him further into the limelight.

Jason Statham with Victoria’s Secret model fiancée Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

He also appeared in Fast & Furious 6 and 7. His new film Hobbs & Shaw is a spin-off from the massively successful franchise.

Co-starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Idris Elba, it sees Statham in his familiar action anti-hero mode.

He said: “A lot of characters I play are pretty similar because I can do all that.

“There tends to be a physicality with those roles and I tend to stick to it.

“A mathematician going through a bitter divorce – I do not get offered those films. I only want to do things that I think I can do a good job at – and I don’t think I would be good at that.”

He even says “anyone can act” with the right script, adding: “You can make your grandma look good in fight scenes with the expertise of editors.”

Statham, who was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, still does his own stunts – much to his mum Eileen’s consternation.

He said: “She’s been saying for many years that I should stop the stunts.

“In these films you have to be cautious about how you expose yourself to danger.

 

A lot of stuff is calculated and smart. The physical fights, we do it because we can. In movies and storytelling, contrast and insurmountable odds are what people want. People go, ‘F***, there is no way he is going to fight this guy’ – and people get in to that.

“We really get stuck in and pay the price for that… the bruises.”

Statham, an expert in jujitsu, kickboxing and judo, has learned to be diplomatic as the years have gone by.

He added: “You have to really be a lot like a good politician in what you do and how you behave or you will end up in punch-ups every day.”

And despite his phenomenal success, he is not holding his breath for an Oscar any time soon. He chuckles: “I’ve no worries about that.”

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