Action films are always special. It could be said that the genre is often not too well recognised by critics, but there are a huge number of fans that worship many action film stars. In recent decades, there have been an abundance of new stars from the genre making their way onto the big screens, and one man in particular has not disappointed since his arrival.
We are on about, of course, the great man from the Midlands, Jason Statham. The actor, and former model, became known on the big screen thanks to the famous Guy Ritchie. After that, and with a fair bit of force, Statham's career has done nothing but soar, in an enjoyable journey full of car chases and fist fights.
The actor, as expected, continues to be in demand and has various films in the pipeline which will be sure to delight fans. His most recent project being 'Mechanic: Resurrection' and of course he will be appearing in 'Fast and Furious 8', set to be released in 2017. Statham, after an already successful career, deserves the recognition. So, our tribute to him is providing you all with 6 of the best fun and unusual facts about the British actor.
1 Street seller
It could be said that Jason Statham is a bit of a hustler and has gone through a fair bit to get to where he is today. To the delight of action film fans, his journey into fame has led to him becoming one of the stars of the genre and the industry as a whole. However, before accumulating all the money from his films, he used to earn a living selling knock-off products on the streets of London with his father.
2 Aquaman
The actors critics can say a lot of things about him, however one thing that they can't criticise is that he is a man who is in shape. The fact is, he has always been in tip top form physically, because his previous jobs have required him to do so. Statham represented Great Britain in diving for 12 years, and even rose to twelfth in the world rankings for platform diving in 1992.
3 Stuntman
Thanks to the excellent shape that Statham has maintained and his skills as a martial arts fighter have both allowed him to do things not many actors can. The Englishman often does almost all of his dangerous scenes of his own accord. Furthermore, he is a great advocate for the specialist stunt men in such dangerous scenes which even has its own category in the Oscars.
4 Transporter
There is no doubt that 'The Transporter' for Jason Statham was the saga that helped him rise to the top, and made him know worldwide. Throughout these popular films, the actor loved to film his own car chase scenes. However, in his early years he was not as skilled as he is today, in fact he failed his driving test numerous times due to the bad habits he got himself into from driving around illegally with his father when he was younger.
5 Jason "Hitman" Statham
Despite the fact that action film fans love watching his films, Statham has not been considered for many major film productions and he jokes around that he would never win an Oscar doing these types of projects. The actor could have played 'Hitman' in 2007, a film that didn't receive many positive reviews from the public or film critics. In the end, Timothy Olyphant was the protagonist.
6 Maximum Risk
Doing your own dangerous scenes obviously brings extreme risks, and Statham has been close to death on numerous occasions due to his bravery in front of the camera. Possibly one of the more well known occasions was in a scene in 'The Expendables 3' in which the actor was driving a large truck. However, the breaks failed and he had to dive into the Black Sea to escape. Thankfully his expert diving skills saved him from from having a serious injury or even dying.