Jason Statham: Brit Action Star For Hire

Once ranked part of Britain’s National Diving Squad and now a major action star, Jason Statham was discovered by Guy Ritchie while modeling for French Connection. Going on his experiences hawking jewelry to tourists in London, Statham auditioned for a role in Ritchie’s first feature film "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (1998) and was cast as Bacon, a streetwise con artist.

Two years later, he was chosen as part of the ensemble cast in Richie’s second crime movie, "Snatch" (2000). This expertly filmed, fast-paced heist movie has reminiscences of Quentin Tarantino’s style but is still 100 percent Richie. As boxing promoter Turkish, Statham ends up in numerous sticky situations with a group of gypsies — mostly in attempts to have Mickey (Brad Pitt), an Irish gypsy whose accent is so thick no one can understand a word he says, enter fixed boxing matches. Statham’s performance is witty and confident but bares a lot of similarities to Bacon in "Lock, Stock."

In the hands of joint directors Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen, Statham fared better than with Ritchie, and gave an impressive performance in "The Transporter" (2002) during the well-choreographed action sequences but less so during everything else. Statham seems to have traded in the rougher half of his trademark Cockney accent for a fake American one that is comical at best as he struggles through the talking parts of the film. However, his history as a model and diver really come through in some powerful martial arts performances.

Three years after the first "Transporter," a sequel emerged — one director lost and one blast from Statham’s past gained in the form of Jason Flemyng (who was part of Richie’s "Lock, Stock" and "Snatch" casts). Much the same as its predecessor, however, Statham seemed more comfortable and fit in better to the action role this time. He also gained the title of mercenary as well as driver, as his Frank Martin is involved in the kidnapping of a powerful U.S. official’s son in Miami. Note the addition of a witty remark just as he takes out each bad guy, in true Arnie style.

After racking up a few other parts, all in the action movie area, Ritchie utilized Statham's skills once again in Ritchie's fourth feature, "Revolver" (2005). Whatever Ritchie had in his first two crime films seemed to have been lost along the way, and the film performed poorly at the box office. Statham was back to his regular con artist role, on a quest for revenge against Dorothy Macha (Ray Liotta). Aside from that, the plot was pretty confusing and difficult to get straight in your head. Statham acted as narrator once more, which is at times overused in the film. The addition of a hair-and-thick-mustache combo did nothing for Statham's acting skills, which seemed to have disappeared somewhat since his last caper with Richie.

A third "Transporter" sequel and a trip to hitman land with "Crank" (2006) and "Crank: High Voltage" (2009) solidified Statham’s action-man mark on Hollywood’s landscape. His firm reputation for badass martial arts, smooth driving stunts and hard-man presence meant he was cast next to heavyweights Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others, for 2010’s "The Expendables." Not bad for a Cockney geezer from Norfolk and a long way from the streets of London hawking jewelry to tourists.

Next stops: This week's "The Mechanic" and, in February, the voice of Tybalt in a somewhat loose adaptation of William Shakespeare’s "Romeo & Juliet" called "Gnomeo & Juliet.".