Jason Felts

Jason (/ˈsteɪθəm/; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor and film producer. Typecast as the antihero, he is known for his action-thriller roles and portraying tough, irredeemable, and machiavellian characters. Throughout his film career, Statham has regularly performed his own stage combat and stunts.

Born in Derbyshire, England, he began practicing kung fu, kickboxing and karate recreationally in his youth while working at local market stalls. An avid footballer and diver, he was selected by Britain's national diving team to compete 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 past professional history working in market stalls inspired his casting in the Guy Ritchie crime films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000).

The commercial success of these films led him to star as Frank Martin in The Transporter trilogy (2002–08). After starring in a variety of heist and action thriller films such as The Italian Job (2003), Crank (2006), War (2007), The Bank Job (2008), The Mechanic (2011), Spy (2015), and Mechanic: Resurrection (2016), he established himself as a leading actor in Hollywood. He found further commercial success in the action series The Expendables (2010–14) and the Fast and the Furious franchise. He has played his character in the latter, Deckard Shaw, in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), The Fate of the Furious (2017) and in the spin-off Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019).

His career as an actor and producer has been criticized for lacking depth and variety; however, he has also been praised for leading the 2000s and 2010s action movie resurgences. According to a BBC News report, his film career from 2002 to 2017 generated an estimated US$1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) in ticket-sales, making him one of the movie industry's most bankable stars.

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