Handsome Rob

Background:

"I never actually thought I'd get involved in action movies." Jason Statham.

British action star Jason Statham broke into the movie scene as a career criminal in Guy Ritchie's crime films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000). He then played the title role in The Transporter films (2002 & 2005), portrayed professional driver and womanizer Handsome Rob in The Italian Job (2003) and starred as a hitman in his latest film, Crank (2006). Moviegoers will also see the typically shaved bullet-headed actor starring in the upcoming films In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, Rogue, and reprising his role as Handsome Rob in The Brazilian Job.

On a more personal note, the 5' 11" tall ruggedly handsome star had been involved with English model and actress Kelly Brook (born on November 23, 1979) from 2002 to 2004.

Natural Born Athlete

Childhood and Family:

"My father used to run auctions. He's now a singer in the Canary Islands." Jason Statham.

In the capital city of England, Jason Statham was born on September 12, 1972. He is the second son of a lounge singer and dressmaker-turned-dancer who operated a black market.

Young Statham developed an interest in sports, particularly in diving. He was trained at the famed Crystal Palace National Sport Center in London and has been an Olympic Diver on the British National Diving Team. In 1992, he finished 12th in the World Championships. The natural born athlete also studied boxing and martial arts.

The Transporter

Career:

"So I used to put money in my pocket while working on the street corners, selling perfume and jewelry, and other goods that were supposedly expensive." Jason Statham.

Initially working as a black market salesman, Jason Statham broke into the entertainment business as a fashion model and appeared on an advertisement for the French Connection clothing company. There, he met one of the owners of the company who turned out to be an executive producer on director Guy Ritchie's first film. Statham then got his first foray into acting when Ritchie cast him to play one of the film's lead ensembles, the street con artist Bacon, in the filmmaker's directorial debut Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998; also starring Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher and Nick Moran). The violent, dark comedy film which boasts a rich cast of characters eventually garnered the first-time filmmaker international acclaim and introduced Statham to worldwide audiences.

Two years later, Statham reunited with Ritchie playing a leading role as an unlicensed boxing promoter named Turkish in Snatch (alongside Benicio Del Toro and Brad Pitt). That same year, Statham appeared in Robert Adetuyi's rap drama Turn It Up (with Pras and Ja Rule) and in John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (alongside Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube; Statham played a futuristic policeman) in the next year. He also shared the screen with Jet Li, playing secret agent Evan Funsch in James Wong's sci-fi thriller The One, and with former English footballer Vinnie Jones in Barry Skolnick's drama comedy Mean Machine, playing a soccer star and violent con named Monk.

Statham scored his first starring role as a powerful post-millennial action hero, ex-Special Forces soldier Frank Martin, in directors Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen's action/crime movie The Transporter. The film, in which Statham did nearly all of his own stunts, including car chase sequences, scuba diving sequences and fight sequences, further introduced him to American audiences.

More roles rolled in. Statham was cast to play Handsome Rob, a very proficient "wheel man" and world-class womanizer, in the 2003 remake of Michael Caine’s 1969 classic film, The Italian Job (starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron and Donald Sutherland). For the driving stunt in F. Gary Gray's conventional thriller, Statham got two days driving tuition from Damon Hill, the British former Formula 1 world champion. He also made a crackerjack villain in David R. Ellis' suspense thriller Cellular (2004; opposite Kim Basinger, Chris Evans and William H. Macy) before reprising his role as the professional driver Frank Martin for the lesser sequel The Transporter 2 (2005).

Statham then played a banker who moonlights as a cocaine dealer in Hunter Richards' directorial debut, London (2005; alongside Jessica Biel and Chris Evans), and reunited with Guy Ritchie in his 2005 crime drama Revolver (with Ray Liotta and André 3000), playing hotshot Las Vegas gambler named Jake Green. He recently starred as a suspended inspector in Tony Giglio's direct-to-video film Chaos (alongside Ryan Phillippe and Wesley Snipes) and appeared as the coach of the French soccer team who owns Pink Panther diamond ring in Shawn Levy's comedy The Pink Panther (starring Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Beyoncé Knowles, and Jean Reno).

On September 1, 2006, Statham's new film, Crank, will be released. In the high-octane thriller, helmed by first-time directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, he will portray the lead role of Chev, a hit man who who has been injected with a lethal poison, alongside costars Amy Smart, Efren Ramirez and Dwight Yoakam.

"This is another interesting character, slightly different than what I've done before. He's much more of a less internal guy, more of a desperate man doing desperate things trying to stay alive." Jason Statham (on his role in Crank (2006)).

Statham will soon star in Uwe Boll's film version of the game series "Dungeon Siege," In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (with Ray Liotta and Leelee Sobieski), which follows Statham's lead character, Farmer, from simple family man to heroic prince. He will also star as an FBI agent who seeks vengeance on his partner's mysterious assassin in Phillip Atwell's action/thriller Rogue (with Jet Li and Devon Aoki) and will reprise the role of Handsome Rob in a sequel to 2003’s The Italian Job, The Brazilian Job.

"When I was first given a start by Guy Ritchie, he was making black comedy-dramas, not so much action movies. And it was only (writer-director) Luc Besson who gave me a shot at expressing a few of my sort of hidden capabilities in (The Transporter). I was a high diver for years, so for me to climb up in a rig and fall backwards from 200 feet over a concrete floor while Neveldine was there with the camera was a chance not to miss. And that also includes hanging out of a helicopter about 3,000 feet above downtown L.A. In for a penny, in for a pound." Jason Statham.

Awards:
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