Jason Statham

Jason Statham ˈsteɪθəm STAYthəm born 26 July 1967 is an English actor and producer He is known for portraying tough gritty or violent characters in various action thriller films and has been credited for leading the resurgence of action films during the 2000s and 2010s By 2017 his films had grossed over 11 billion 15 billion making him one of the industrys most bankable stars While working at local market stalls Statham began practising Chinese martial arts kickboxing and karate recreationally in his youth An avid footballer and diver he was a member of Britains national diving team and competed for England in the 1990 Commonwealth Games Shortly after he was asked to model for French Connection Tommy Hilfiger and Levis in various advertising campaigns Stathams history of working at market stalls inspired his casting in the Guy Ritchie crime films Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 1998 and Snatch 2000 Both films were commercial hits and they helped catapult Statham to stardom He played supporting roles in the American action films Turn It Up 2000 Ghosts of Mars and The One 2001 From 2002 to 2008 he played the title role in the first three films in the Transporter film series 20022008 which solidified his status as an action star In 2003 he appeared in the ensemble heist action film The Italian Job He went on to play leading roles in the commercially successful films Crank 2006 The Bank Job 2008 The Mechanic 2011 Homefront 2013 Mechanic Resurrection 2016 The Meg 2018 Wrath of Man 2021 Meg 2 The Trench 2023 and The Beekeeper 2024 Statham has also starred as Lee Christmas in the ensemble action film series The Expendables 20102023 and as Deckard Shaw in the Fast Furious franchise 20132023 including the spinoff Hobbs Shaw 2019 which he coproduced His voice acting work includes the documentaries Thai Boxing A Fighting Chance 2002 Truth in 24 2008 and its 2012 sequel and the animated film Gnomeo Juliet 2011 Description above from the Wikipedia article Jason Statham licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia