Jason Statham ( STAY-thəm; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for being typecast as tough, gritty, or violent characters in 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 £1.1 billion ($1.5 billion), making him one of the industry's most bankable stars. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $8.5 billion worldwide.
Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing, and karate recreationally in his youth while working at local market stalls. An avid footballer and diver, he was a member of Great Britain's 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 Levi's in various advertising campaigns.
Statham's 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 went on to play supporting roles in the American action films Turn It Up (2000), Ghosts of Mars and The One (both 2001). From 2002 to 2008, he played the title role in the first three films in the Transporter film series (2002–2008), 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 commercially successful films such as 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), among others.
Statham has also starred as Lee Christmas in the ensemble action film series The Expendables (2010–2023) and as Deckard Shaw in the Fast & Furious franchise (2013–2023), including the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw (2019), which he co-produced. 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).
Jason Statham was born in Shirebrook, in the county of Derbyshire, England, on 26 July 1967, the son of dancer Eileen (née Yates) and street seller Barry Statham. His father also worked odd jobs as a house painter, coal miner, and singer in the Canary Islands. Statham moved to Great Yarmouth, where he initially chose not to follow his father's career working the local market stalls, instead practising martial arts. He grew up alongside football player Vinnie Jones, with whom he would later act; Jones introduced him to football, and Statham went on to play for the local grammar school, which he attended from 1978 to 1983. He was also passionate about diving, practising daily to perfect his techniques. He was a member of Great Britain's National Swimming Squad for 12 years, and competed for England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in the 10 metre, 3 metre, and 1 metre events, coming tenth, eleventh and eighth respectively. He said in a 2003 interview that his time with the national squad was a "great experience" that taught him "discipline, focus, and certainly [kept him] out of trouble".
Statham was spotted by the sports modelling agency Sports Promotions while training at London's Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. He was signed by Tommy Hilfiger, Griffin, and Levi's for various modelling contracts during their 1996 spring and summer collections. In 1997, 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." However, he was still forced to follow in his father's footsteps as a street seller to make ends meet, stating that he sold "fake perfume and jewellery on street corners". He made small appearances in a few music videos, including "Comin' On" by the Shamen in 1993, "Run to the Sun" by Erasure in 1994, and "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by the Beautiful South in 1995.
While working as a model for French Connection, Statham was introduced to fledgling filmmaker Guy Ritchie, who was developing a film and needed to fill the role of a streetwise con artist. After learning about Statham's past as a market stall salesman, Ritchie cast him in the crime comedy thriller Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). The film was well received by both critics and audiences, and helped put Statham in the public eye; for his role, he was paid £5,000. Statham's second collaboration with Ritchie came with Snatch (2000), which earned more than $80 million at the box office. For his role in Snatch, he was paid £15,000. He was then able to break into Hollywood and appeared in two films in 2001: the science fiction action horror film Ghosts of Mars and the science fiction martial arts action film The One.
In 2002, he narrated the martial arts documentary Thai Boxing: A Fighting Chance (2002), which follows the lives of three individuals who come from very different backgrounds that are all training Muay Thai, each with their own unique motivations and stories, as they prepare for their next fight.
Statham was offered more film roles and was cast in the lead role of driver Frank Martin in the action film The Transporter (2002), written by Luc Besson. The film spawned two sequels, Transporter 2 (2005) and Transporter 3 (2008). He also played supporting roles in Mean Machine (2002), The Italian Job (2003), and as the lead villain in Cellular (2004).
In 2005, Statham was once again cast by Ritchie to star in his new project, Revolver, which was a critical and box office failure. He played a dramatic role in the independent film London in 2005. In 2006, he played the lead role in the action film Crank. Statham was asked to promote Crank during the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con Convention. 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." Later in 2008, White praised Statham's Transporter 3 as a great example of kinetic pop art. Chris Hewitt of Empire Magazine, noted the film as "a dour, drab affair", but credited the film with "establishing Statham as a new action hero, as at ease with gruff one-liners as he was with Jackie Chan-esque high-kicking".
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. It's 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." He reprised his role as Chev Chelios in the 2009 sequel Crank: High Voltage.
In 2010, Statham appeared alongside fellow action stars Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke, among others, in the ensemble action film The Expendables. Statham plays Lee Christmas, a former SAS soldier and expert at close quarters combat using knives. The film was commercially successful, opening at number one at the box office in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and India, and grossed a total of $274 million worldwide.
2011–2015: Commercial expansion
In his first film of 2011, Statham starred in the remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson film The Mechanic as Arthur Bishop. A theatrical trailer depicting Statham's character "shooting a man's head off" was banned from circulation by the Advertising Standards Authority for showing excessive violence. His role in The Mechanic was positively reviewed by the critics both in the United States and the United Kingdom. The Guardian praised his performance as possessing a "now-customary efficiency" in attaining "an entertaining hitman thriller". The New York Times noted Statham as "sleek as a bullet"; and the film "a more powerful recharge" of the original. UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph hailed Statham as "England's best export to action movies in just about forever, a businesslike brute with gentlemanly soul." He returned to British film by starring in the police drama Blitz as Detective Sergeant Tom Brant. The film received mixed reviews with Cath Clake of The Guardian reviewing it as "not half bad" and "oddly entertaining". He was then cast in the action film Killer Elite. The film was based on real events, which were the subject of Sir Ranulph Fiennes' 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. The film grossed returned a negative budget, and was panned by the critics.