Jason Statham Once Considered It a Sore Spot That He Didn’t Become a Successful Diver
Actor Jason Statham is a star known for his hit action movies. But acting in films wasn’t always Statham’s goal. The actor maintained a few hobbies and gigs before his big break, including diving.
How Jason Statham became an actor
Filmmaker Guy Ritchie played a huge part in Statham becoming the actor that he is today. Statham worked as a model for the French Connection agency when Ritchie took notice of him.
According to The Guardian, Ritche would then recruit Statham for the movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Since then, Statham has gone on to become one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars. Years after his success, however, Statham would still credit Ritchie for the massive influence he’s had in his career.
“He’s definitely most accountable for what I’m doing right now. He’s the one to blame. He was a great influence. I learned everything I had to learn at the beginning from him. Basically he taught me how to do what I needed to do in front of a camera. Acting Lessons 101 with Guy. If I’m bad, it’s on him,” Statham once said in an interview with Men’s Journal.
Jason Statham once considered not making it as a successful diver a sore spot
Before his modeling and acting careers, Statham was heavily into sports. In particular, he had a long stint as a talented diver. But although he was good enough to be a part of a U.K. Olympic team, Statham didn’t take the sport too seriously. He saw it as more of an extracurricular activity than a potential career.
“I did it for a little while; it was a silly hobby,” Statham once said according to Express. “I was on holiday with the parents years and years ago and I saw some guy do a high dive and I said, ‘You know what, let me have a go at that.’ It was just this stupid idea that I’d be able to do. I was on the British team for, like, 10 years and I ran around the world competing.”
It’s a hobby that Statham has since moved on from. But The Expendables star confided he still spent a considerable amount of time in the water.
“I go under the water now, instead of above it… I like scuba diving. It’s great, down there with the fishes,” he added.
But a part of Statham wondered what it would’ve been like if he was able to turn his diving hobby into an actual profession.
“It’s a bit of a sore point I never got to the Olympics,” he said at the premiere of Mechanic: Resurrection according to Evening Standard. “They got $7 million for the diving per year. They deserve it. The divers now are just terrific.”
If he became a diver earlier, Statham theorized that things might have turned out differently for him.
“I started too late. It probably wasn’t my thing. I should have done a different sport,” he said.
Jason Statham’s experience with sports unknowingly helped his acting career
From The Transporter series to The Expendables, Statham is popular for doing many of his own stunts and action sequences. His ability to perform these physical feats was significantly helped by his history with sports.
“I spent years doing those sports and now it’s all paid off, but at the time I had no idea,” Statham said in a 2012 interview with BBC. “Years and years ago, I wanted to be a stuntman and I felt that was a pretty realistic ambition, but it was still a stretch of the imagination. Now I get to do a bit of acting, and I get to do all the stunts, so I’ve fulfilled a small dream I had years ago.”
Apart for the sake of authenticity, there was a rush that came with doing his own stunts that Statham enjoyed.
“There’s something to be said for doing something that’s very risky. If there’s a chance that you might get hurt, and you get through that moment and it turns out well, there’s an element of reward to that. It’s always about testing yourself,” he said.
