ason Statham (/stem/ STAY-thm; [citation needed] born 26 July

1967)[1][2] is an English actor, and a former model and

competitive diver.[3]
Statham is known for his roles in the Guy Ritchie crime
films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking
Barrels (1998), Snatch (2000), and Revolver (2005). He has
also appeared in films such as the action thriller The
Transporter trilogy (20022008), the heist film The Italian
Job (2003), the black comedy-action film Crank (2006), the
action film War (2007), the science fiction action
thriller Death Race (2008), the crime film The Bank
Job (2008), and the action series The Expendables (2010
14). Statham has joined The Fast and the Furiousfranchise,
having a cameo appearance in Fast & Furious 6 and starred
in Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious. He usually performs
his own stage combat and stunts,[4] and is noted for being
typecast as an antihero.

Contents
[hide]

1Early life
2Career
3Influence in popular media
4Personal life
5Filmography
o 5.1Film
o 5.2Video games
o 5.3Music videos
6Note
7References
8External links

Early life
Statham was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, the son of
Eileen (ne Yates), a dancer, and Barry Statham, a street
seller and lounge singer.[10] He moved to Great Yarmouth,
Norfolk, where he initially chose not to follow his father's
career working the local market stalls, instead practicing
martial arts. [citation needed] 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 (19781983), which he had attended
since the age of 11, a passion that he shared with diving.[11][not
in citation given] He practiced daily in perfecting his diving

techniques, and was a member of Britain's National Diving

Squad for twelve years.[12][13] Statham competed for England at
the 1990 Commonwealth Games.[14]
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. [citation needed] Afterwards, 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."[2] However, he was still forced to
follow in his father's footsteps as a street seller to make
ends meet, selling "fake perfume and jewellery on street
corners" according to Statham.[6] He made small
appearances in a few music videos including "Comin' On
Strong" by The Shamen in 1993, "Run to the Sun"
by Erasure in 1994,[15] and "Dream a Little Dream of Me"
by The Beautiful South in 1995.[16][17]
Career

Statham signing autographs at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con International.

While working as a model for French Connection, he was

introduced to fledgling British director Guy Ritchie[18] who
was developing a film project and needed to fill the role of a
street-wise con artist. 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.[19] The movie was well
received by both critics and audiences, and helped put
Statham in the public eye. 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, and with the movie earning
more than $80 million in box-office revenue, 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. [citation needed]
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, in which he was responsible for his
own stunts (Statham has made this choice for all of his
films).[20] He has studied Wing Chun kung fu, karate,
and kickboxing.[21] The film spawned two
sequels, Transporter 2 (2005) and Transporter 3 (2008).

Statham at the ShoWest Lionsgate Luncheon in March 2007.

He also played supporting roles in Mean Machine (2002), The

Italian Job (2003) (in which he played Handsome Rob),
and Cellular (2004) in which he played the lead villain. In
2005, Statham was once again cast by Ritchie to star in his
new project, Revolver, which was a critical and box office
failure.[22] He played a dramatic role in the independent
film London in 2006. That same year he played the lead role
in the action film Crank which spawned the sequel Crank:
High Voltage(2009). [citation needed]
In 2008, Statham starred in the British crime thriller The
Bank Job and Death Race, a remake of Death Race
2000 (1975). American film critic Armond White hailed
Statham's ascension as an action film star. On the occasion
of Death Race, White championed Statham's "best track
record of any contemporary movie star."[23] Later in 2008,
White praised Statham's Transporter 3 as a great example
of kinetic pop art. [citation needed]
In 2009, Statham started to develop a new movie written
by David Peoples and Janet Peoples. Statham stated "We've
got a movie we're trying to do, written by David Peoples and
Janet Peoples, in the vein of an old film, The Treasure of the
Sierra Madre. Its not a remake or anything, but it's a little
bit like that, about relationships and how greed
contaminates the relationships these three people have. The
working title is The Grabbers."[24]
In 2010, Statham appeared alongside fellow action
stars Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, and Mickey Rourke, among
others in The Expendables. Statham plays Lee Christmas, a
former SAS soldier and expert at close quarters combat
using knives. In 2011, Statham starred in the remake of the
1972 Charles Bronson film, The Mechanic, and returned to
British film in the police drama Blitz. [citation needed]
He also starred in the action film Killer Elite. The film was
based on real events, which were the subject of Sir Ranulph
Fiennes' fictional novel The Feather Men. Statham played an
assassin named Danny who comes out of retirement to save
an old friend, played by Robert De Niro.[25] In August 2011, he
began filming Parker for director Taylor Hackford; the film
was released in January 2013. Statham played Parker, the
criminal antihero previously played by Mel Gibson in
1999's Payback and by Lee Marvin in 1967's Point
Blank (though their characters were given different
surnames).[26]
He reprised his role as Lee Christmas in The Expendables
2 in 2012. In 2013, Statham had a cameo appearance at the
end of Fast & Furious 6 as the brother of the film's
antagonist Owen Shaw (Luke Evans).[27] He reprised the
character, this time as the main antagonist, in Furious 7,
which was released in April 2015.[28][29][30] In 2013, he also
starred opposite James Franco in the thriller Homefront, and
headlined the British thriller Hummingbird. Statham made a
cameo in the 2014 music video Summer of Calvin Harris as
one of the car racers.[31] In 2014, he returned as Lee
Christmas in The Expendables 3, and in 2015, appeared in
the action comedy Spy. [citation needed]
Statham has advocated for stunt performers to be given
their own category at the Oscars.[32]

Influence in popular media

In the comic book series Ultimate Spider-Man, that series'
version of the villain Vulture was rendered by artist Mark
Bagley to resemble actor Statham, as per writer Brian
Michael Bendis' instructions.[33]

Personal life
Since 2010, he has been dating model Rosie Huntington-
Whiteley.[34] They announced their engagement on 10 January
2016[35] In February 2017, they announced that they were
expecting their first child.[36] They welcomed their son, Jack
Oscar, on 24 June 2017.[37]

Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes

Lock, Stock and Two

1998 Bacon
Smoking Barrels

Snatch Turkish

2000

Turn It Up Mr. B

Ghosts of Mars Sergeant Jericho Butler

2001 The One MVA Agent Evan Funsch

Mean Machine Monk

2002 The Transporter Frank Martin

2003 The Italian Job Handsome Rob

Cameo
Collateral Airport man
appearance
2004

Cellular Ethan Greer

Transporter 2 Frank Martin

2005

Revolver Jake Green

Year Title Role Notes

London Bateman

Detective Quentin
Chaos
Conners

The Pink Panther Yves Gluant Uncredited

2006

Crank Chev Chelios

FBI Agent John

2007 War
Crawford

The Bank Job Terry Leather

In the Name of the King Farmer Daimon

Jensen Garner
2008 Death Race
"Frankenstein" Ames

Truth in 24 Narrator Documentary

Transporter 3 Frank Martin

2009 Crank: High Voltage Chev Chelios

Year Title Role Notes

13 Jasper Bagges

2010

The Expendables Lee Christmas

The Mechanic Arthur Bishop

Gnomeo & Juliet Tybalt Voice only

2011
Detective Sergeant Tom
Blitz
Brant

Killer Elite Danny Bryce

Safe Luke Wright

2012

The Expendables 2 Lee Christmas

Parker Parker

Cameo
Fast & Furious 6 Deckard Shaw[a]
appearance
2013

Hummingbird Joey Jones

Homefront Phil Broker

Year Title Role Notes

2014 The Expendables 3 Lee Christmas

Wild Card Nick Wild

2015 Furious 7 Deckard Shaw

Spy Rick Ford

2016 Mechanic: Resurrection Arthur Bishop

2017 The Fate of the Furious Deckard Shaw

Filming

2018 Meg Jonas Taylor