He was a (talented) swindler, professionally involved in sports, and got into the movies quite by accident. Jason Statham is somewhat similar to the movie heroes who made him famous: he stands firmly on his feet, is responsible for his own words and does not betray his principles.
He was a street vendor and championship winner, he cheated and learned to understand the motives of people’s behavior. He knows how to show off, but not to lie. Meeting with the only man in modern cinema who you can rely on.
I don’t understand at all where I’m going: an industrial zone, some garages, the rumble of aircraft gaining altitude — near the Los Angeles airport … The second turn to the right … Stacks of boards. Another turn… Here it is, that hangar! Blue roof, yellow concrete walls. Against them, a muscular figure in a tracksuit: Jason Statham meets me outside the sports and choreography studio, the stunt paradise in which he trains. Apparently, this is how the artist’s atelier looks like in his understanding.
In a wet T-shirt, with a three-day stubble, as a sign of greeting, he squeezes my hand with a rough, dry palm and simply nods at the entrance. The foyer has beauty, design, glamour, and apparently a caffeine-free coffee shop. We sit down at a table, and only then does he break the silence. “Grapefruit and water, brother,” he says to the waiter in a familiar way. And she nods to me again — at the menu: like, order whatever you want, old man, be my guest. I’m starting to worry about the interview: what if Statham only knows how to give commands to the waiters, and learns the rest of the words from the scripts of his generally laconic films?
But Jason Statham can talk, articulate, be frank. The only thing he doesn’t talk about is his personal life. But this is perhaps not the most interesting thing to know about Jason Statham.
- Hugh Jackman: «I live the way my feelings tell me»
Psychologies: You are practically the last action hero. Your masculinity is the envy of men and the adoration of women. To what extent does this image correspond to your present?
Jason Statham: And there is another version, I tell you, that middle-aged men watch films with Statham, because they themselves have not used muscles for a long time, but they like to identify themselves with a lump of ironic muscles of the same age.
Ironic muscles?
J.S.: Well, of course. Who would believe that a guy with a face like mine is a romantic hero? Almost every role I play contains something comical, every character of mine is weak and ridiculous in some way. I am not a knight without fear, like Stallone, and not a knight with reproach, like a young Clint Eastwood. The only thing I’m trying to be a knight in is with women. That’s why I don’t talk about them.
Too bad: your current girlfriend is a supermodel and aspiring actress. Replacing the irresistible Megan Fox in the sequel to Transformers is already an achievement.
J.S.: But her main achievement is that, in spite of any beauty there, Roz (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, British model and actress. — Approx. ed.) does not pretend to be a glamorous Snow White. Flirts only for photos, during photo shoots. She is more natural than the pure silk underwear she advertises. Although, I tell you, it can sometimes walk on you with sandpaper! That’s it, not a word more about her.
You do not like female coquetry?
J.S.: I don’t like pretending at all. Look, I even do my own stunts in films. And I always insist on it. I refuse to work with the «green screen» — this is when all sorts of computer backgrounds are completed after the actors have been filmed.
Perhaps your most impressive stunt is to transform yourself from a London street vendor into a Hollywood star. How did you do it?
J.S.: Actually, since I was 9 years old, so to speak, on stage. No, really! My brother and I worked for my father, selling costume jewelry under the guise of jewelry at crossroads. That’s where it was necessary to be an actor! By the way, my father always sang, and my mother danced — now they opened a dance and singing show for holidaymakers in the Canary Islands, and then they sang and danced amateurishly. Mom also taught me to move … well, if not aesthetically danceable, then harmoniously. But my father earned by street auctions. He bought all sorts of rubbish — from decanters and watches to furniture and radios, rarely anything of value — and held auctions at fairs. He stood on the platform and, without embarrassment, poured out what wonderful goods he had and at what wonderful prices. He is a master of persuasion, psychological influence … for the purpose of personal enrichment. And my brother and I, from the age of 9, under his ideological leadership, tried to sell something to someone. And at 13 I was already vparivat quite professionally. You see, this is also a kind of art — to convince a person to buy something. Near Harrods, they bought damn chains and completely incomprehensible rings from me.
And how was your personal performance?
J.S.: Well, I got up in Oxford Street, opened the diplomat. And he said: “Agree, a wonderful chain!” But he didn’t say what it was made of — maybe gold … The next move: “Madame, do you know what Cartier is?” She nods. So a vague thought settles in her head that this chain is from Cartier, what the hell is not joking. And then I say: “I have an offer for you. You never dreamed of such a thing. No, not a thousand pounds. And not five hundred. Four hundred is already cheap. For this beautiful chain I want… no, not a hundred pounds, not fifty, not forty, not thirty… Shall I continue? More?» And suddenly: “That’s what she told me at night, that’s why I look so tired …” This is in order to add humor, to defuse the situation of obvious vparivanie. But you can also try to hurt the audience a little: “What are you waiting for, open? Get your pens out of your pockets and bring your goddamn money!” Then the final chorus: “So, 20 pounds for this beautiful chain, and here is another one, from Figaro, 45 centimeters, handmade in Italy, hand-stolen in Stepney. I give it as a bonus. And if you don’t have money, cry, cry with tears the size of a cabbage head in October.» In the end, you sell a set of chains for ten pounds — and I bought them for two … But still, this is an honest fraud: it feeds on human greed — after all, people actually know that you are either selling stolen goods, or your product is not quite right, Why are they so willing to accept it? Anyway, this way I could earn two thousand for the weekend at Wembley fair on Sunday and show up for practice on Monday in a convertible BMW.
I also wanted to ask about training. You were the winner of the UK Ski Jumping Championships, fourth in Europe, 12th in the world. Why did you leave the sport?
“Well, who would believe that a guy with a face like mine is a romantic hero?”
J.S.: Why did I leave school at 15? Got bored. There was not enough action, drive, purpose. As a child, my parents never put pressure on my brother and me, they trusted us. And trust for me is synonymous with freedom. That is, you are free, which means that you are seriously responsible for yourself. And only you. Maybe that’s why my penchant for scams didn’t lead me to a serious dope … I was involved in kickboxing and boxing, but I really fought maybe twice in my life, and both in my early youth. I hate violence, although I respect strength — mobile, physical, boxing. For me it is also a kind of freedom. And in sports, then I didn’t have enough freedom, the breadth of life choices. Sport teaches you not to pay attention to pain, to concentrate all of yourself in one effort. But here you are like on rails: your next goal is obvious — another fraction of a second, another difficult element … Life should be saturated with something else. Yes, I traveled the world, I was in Russia — and more than once — in China, in Australia. And in countries the existence of which a simple man from the American hinterland does not even suspect, such as Bulgaria. But I got bored. In sports, you can only improve your jump, but this does not involve live contact with another person. This is not for me.
So you’ve decided to become an actor…
J.S.: E no! I didn’t intend to become an actor. I thought to be a stuntman. But in the gym he met a model impresario and became a model for a clothing brand. And then she acted as a co-producer of «Lock, Stock, Two Smoking Barrels» — and I was recommended to the director Guy Ritchie. And then Guy was very interested in all sorts of dark scams, the ability to extricate himself from difficult situations created by your own lies, all the details of the life of scammers like me. By the way, not a single agent took such an interest in me as Guy did. Nobody knew me. I didn’t have a track record. I did not graduate from the theater academy. Guy decided to prepare me for the casting himself. Under his guidance, I taught a monologue about Harry the Hatchet, a violent gangster, the owner of a sex shop, who beat a dude to death with a black rubber cock. He made me repeat this monologue and said: “Don’t try to make a damn expressive face. Just look at the camera, she will do everything herself. And then he said: “Look, all these producers are not very interested in you. So bring your jewelry to the audition, we will turn on the camera, and you will show how you pushed the chains. I brought chains. This entire performance was filmed. He became my test, for which I got the role. Not for acting talent!
Can you name your life credo?
J.S.: I am a practitioner. I only trust what I have personally tested. I am a craftsman — it is unlikely that I would ever think of fighting for the role of Hamlet. I try to do well what I can already do well. Most importantly, I’m not ashamed of what I’m doing. I never specifically achieved anything, I just did what I enjoyed, and now I continue to live by this principle. And I think I’m on the right track. I have no special education, I do everything on a whim, but I never hack and rely only on experience.
What can you say about the genre you work in?
J.S.: He seems to me worthy of respect. I call it a testosterone fairy tale: the situations here are atypical and even fantastic, but physiologically and psychologically it is true. Nothing to do with any «Spider-Man», although there are also tricks. I know that I have my place. Maybe highly paid, but essentially modest. They don’t give Oscars for films like mine.
But do you still consider yourself lucky?
J.S.: Luck is like a Frisbee launched by someone flying a disc. Sometimes you catch that fool and she’s yours. Sometimes it flies by. And you need to grab and hold on to it. I grabbed.
So you’re still in luck!
J.S.: I’m just arrogant and trained — I jump high and grab what flies.
- Hugh Laurie: «I have someone to love»
New film starring Jason Statham is an ethical action movie «Hummingbird» by Stephen Knight — comes out under the slogan «Revenge does not give relief.» Available from June 13th.