Possessing the charismatic appearance of a British gentleman combined with a sharp, gritty American style, Jason Statham is often framed in impressive “anti-hero” roles on the big screen. Currently, “The Transporter” is one of the brightest action stars in the world cinema sky.

 The athlete has a career in acting

Born on July 26, 1967 in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, England, Jason Statham grew up in a family with a businessman father and tea house singer, and dancer mother. From an early age, young Jason was gifted in sports such as martial arts, diving and football. He was a member of the National Diving Squad for 12 years, representing the UK at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland in 1990 and the Olympics in Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996. He was also the 12th ranked diver in the world.

                Young image of Jason diving athlete at the Olympics ^^

And during a training session at the National Sports Center London, the film crew and the deputy photographers of Sports Promotions persuaded him to model for some advertising campaigns. With a masculine look but not too similar to ordinary male models, he has become the face of a number of fashion brands such as French Connection, Levis’s, Hilfiger, Erasure…

But it was not until 1988 that the 31-year-old boy met a turning point in his life. One day selling goods on the street with his father, he caught the eye of famous director Guy Ritchie when he was casting an actor to play a street fire expert for the action comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. From here, he had the opportunity to play the role of Bacon in the film and began to fall in love with acting.

Top action stars on the silver screen

After Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels had a comedic thriller that was a huge success both at the box office and at the box office, two years later, director Guy Ritchie invited Statham to star in the movie Snatch. This is also the first time he has acted with world famous stars such as Brad Pitt or Benicio del Toro. Playing the Turkish guy who organizes boxing matches helped Statham really enter Hollywood when Snatch became the highest-rated film of 2000.

Along with this success, Statham began to step up step by step into the ranks of Hollywood stars such as the drug dealer in Turn It Up and was again invited by director John Carpenter to play an alien character in the film. sci-fi Ghosts of Mars with Ice Cube and Jet Li. In the following years, Jason continued to impress in a number of films such as The One, The Italian Job, Revolver and gradually made his mark in films such as Crank, War and Death Race.

However, the film that brought Jason Statham to the A-list star was the 2002 blockbuster The Transporter, which grossed $43 million. The Transporter was a breakthrough in Jason Statham’s career, helping his name “popular like alcohol” throughout the United States.

In the past 5 years, he has also participated in a series of other blockbuster action films such as The Expendables part 1 and 2, Killer Elite, Safe, Parker. This year, he continues to sweep the silver screen with the villain role in part 7 of the blockbuster series Fast & Furious 7.

 Hollywood’s “cold face” villain

The films Jason Statham participates in often feature many famous action stars, but he still stands out thanks to a very unique acting quality. Viewers remember him not as a righteous hero “excepting evil to destroy evil” but as an “anti-hero” character with ambiguous background or non-hero roles but good at martial arts and being placed in difficult situations. strict position. The actor himself revealed: “When filming, I will use all the experience over the years. It is a priceless asset.”Therefore, his acting is very realistic mixed with the grit and slyness of the street. In particular, being a former professional athlete, he does not need to rely on cascadeurs in car chases, underwater diving scenes or beautiful martial arts fights because Jason always thinks: “ I I always wanted to do the action myself. The people who influenced me are Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, they are really amazing. When I watched their movies back in the day, I always felt like I was living in the movie. Today with CGI technology, even my grandmother can become an action star. But action must be real, because nothing can completely replace it.”

Jason Statham often does the action scenes himself

In The Transporter, he played the role of “Transporter” Frank Martin, who specializes in transporting illegal goods with a cold angular face, sharp eyes, icy voice, especially racing skills and heart-stopping speed on the top. Super cars, ready to overcome all obstacles to complete the mission on time.

His face is cold and brutal

Because of the great success of the film, The Transporter continued to be made two more parts in 2005 and 2008 and reached a total revenue of nearly 200 million USD. The three films The Expendables, in which Statham plays knife-throwing expert Lee Christmas, also grossed $786 million worldwide. And recently, when Jason played the assassin Deckard Shaw in Fast & Furious 7 to avenge his brother with top-notch driving, shooting, and fighting scenes, he and his team helped the film reach the $800 million milestone. and became one of the highest grossing films of 2015.

Knife throwing expert Lee Christmas is extremely “cool” in The Expendables

And although the films he starred in were not critically acclaimed, Hollywood’s “cold-faced” villain brand has brought Jason Statham many blockbuster movie projects and millions of fans around the globe.

Happy actor

After 17 years of acting, Jason Statham has owned “a fortune” of nearly 40 movies, “specializing” in leading action roles on the Hollywood screen for the past decade. His name also often stands with other veteran action stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren or more recently Vin Diesel.

Jason in the “terrible” star lineup of The Expendables

However, in complete contrast to his cold appearance in the movie, in real life he is always seen with a friendly, open image and often even smiles to the fullest when interacting with fans and the press. . In addition, Jason Statham is also famous for being quite private and has few scandals because according to him: “ There are many things in the film industry that are bullshit. You pretend to be something on screen, but then in real life you behave differently. That is ridiculous! Myself, I choose my own way of life.”

However, it is undeniable that he is a very pompous star. With the charm of an elegant British gentleman but with an American-style cold charm, around Jason Statham there is no shortage of pink shadows around. Previously, he dated beautiful model Kelly Brook for 7 years. Then he was rumored again with Australian actor and singer Sophie Monk and hot Israeli girl Alex Zosman. But since 2010, the heart of the “cold machine” has been “imprisoned” by the beautiful lingerie angel of Victoria’s Secret, Rosie Huntington Whiteley. Despite the 16-year age difference, the couple has been very happy for many years and is always seen holding hands.         Star and young love Rosie Huntington Whiteley have been together for many years and both are planning to get married

Having worked in many professions before finding himself in action roles, he confided that he is happy with his career as an actor and what he has accomplished over the years. In particular, he is also a person who does not like to plan for the future but only thinks about the present or as far as tomorrow because: “I want to enjoy every moment I have”!

Box: 5 interesting things about Jason Statham

1. Jason used to be in a family band, performing in tea rooms. At that time his father sang the lead, his brother played the guitar and Jason played the drums.
2. He used to follow his father to sell black market items such as jewelry and fake perfume on the streets of London. Jason once succeeded in convincing director Guy Ritchie to buy 4 pieces of jewelry at once and was cast in the movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels!
3. In addition to his hobby of diving, kickboxing and karate, Jason is also a talented soccer player. He is a member of the Hollywood United FC all-star team formed by guitarist Steve Jones of the band Sex Pistols .
4. Jason has also provided voiceovers for the video games: Call of Duty and Red Faction II.
5. When participating in the movie Death Race in 2008, to match the role of Jason Statham, he performed a hard training regime for 6 weeks to lose up to 8 kg!

Choosing the way to play action movies, punching and kicking is also a famous formula that many stars have successfully applied. Although never critically acclaimed, these movies still make a lot of money! :p Looking forward to your upcoming Spy and Mechanic: Resurrection movie!^^

The article was published in the June 2015 issue of GF Magazine. For any citations, please indicate the source. Thank you!