Jason Statham

'Jason Statham' (qv) was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, to Eileen (Yates), a dancer, and Barry Statham, a street merchant and lounge singer. He was a Diver on the British National Diving Team and finished twelfth in the World Championships in 1992. He has also been a fashion model, black market salesman and finally of course, actor. He received the audition for his debut role as Bacon in _Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)_ (qv) through French Connection, for whom he was modeling. They became a major investor in the film and introduced Jason to 'Guy Ritchie' (qv), who invited him to audition for a part in the film by challenging him to impersonate an illegal street vendor and convince him to purchase fake jewelry. Jason must have been doing something right because after the success of _Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)_ (qv) he teamed up again with 'Guy Ritchie' (qv) for _Snatch (2000)_ (qv), with co-stars including 'Brad Pitt' (qv), 'Dennis Farina' (qv) and 'Benicio Del Toro' (qv). After _Snatch (2000)_ (qv) came _Turn It Up (2000)_ (qv) with US music star 'Ja Rule' (qv), followed by a supporting actor role in the sci-fi film _Ghosts of Mars (2001)_ (qv), 'Jet Li' (qv)'s _The One (2001)_ (qv) and another screen partnership with 'Vinnie Jones' (qv) in _Mean Machine (2001)_ (qv) under 'Guy Ritchie' (qv)'s and 'Matthew Vaughn' (qv)'s SKA Films. Finally in 2002 he was cast as the lead role of Frank Martin in _The Transporter (2002)_ (qv). Jason was also in the summer 2003 blockbuster remake of The Italian 'Job' (qv) (1969), The Italian 'Job' (qv) (2003), playing Handsome Rob.Throughout the 2000s, Statham became a star of juicy action B-films, most significantly _Crank (2006)_ (qv) and _Crank: High Voltage (2009)_ (qv), and also _War (2007)_ (qv), opposite 'Jet Li' (qv), and The Bank 'Job' (qv) (2008) and _Death Race (2008)_ (qv), among others. In the 2010s, his reputation for cheeky and tough leading performances led to his casting as Lee Christmas in _The Expendables (2010)_ (qv) and its sequels, the comedy _Spy (2015)_ (qv), and as (apparently) reformed villain Deckard Shaw in _Fast & Furious 6 (2013)_ (qv), _Furious 7 (2015)_ (qv), _The Fate of the Furious (2017)_ (qv), and _Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)_ (qv). Apart from these blockbusters, he continued headlining B-films such as _Homefront (2013)_ (qv).In 2017, he had his first child, a son with his partner, model 'Rosie Huntington-Whiteley' (qv).::Mikedavies86