Features

August 31, 2008

Statham heads for the driver’s seat

AMY LONGSDORF For The Times Leader

Forget about Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Daniel Craig. The reigning king of movie mayhem is Jason Statham.

In kick ’n’ grunt fare like “Transporter,” “Crank” and “War,” the bald-headed Brit has proven himself a worthy successor to everyone from Steve McQueen to Steven Seagal.

Statham’s latest is “Death Race,” a loose remake of Roger Corman’s cult classic “Death Race 2000” from 1975. In the futuristic actioner, directed by Paul W. S. Anderson (“Resident Evil”), the actor plays a steel worker framed for the murder of his wife.

He winds up behind bars just in time to participate in an outlandish derby that pits inmates against one another in a race to the death. Forcing Statham to put pedal to medal is the prison’s ferocious warden (Joan Allen), who will do anything to take the top prize.

Unlike most action guys, Statham isn’t looking to change gears. He enjoys getting typecast as the dude who gets things done.

“I’m very happy doing what I’m doing,” he says. “I don’t feel like I’m stuck or that I’m ... locked down doing the same thing for 10 years. The fact is that people seem to enjoy me doing the (action) stuff.”

If Statham looks leaner and more muscled in “Death Race,” it’s because he imagined his character would need to bulk up to survive life in lock-up.

“The only way that anyone can keep their sanity in prison is to keep a clear head and to train,” Statham says. “I’m glad Paul wanted me to get all lean and prison ready. It’s a great discipline, and I enjoy that kind of discipline.”

Asked the secret for achieving abs you could bounce a quarter off, the actor laughs. “That’s just not eating food. That’s starving yourself for two months. I’d get up at five o’clock in the morning and get on the row machine and do some crazy sessions with (Logan Hood), who’s a Navy SEAL trainer,” he says of the man who got Gerard Butler ripped for “300.”

Statham’s preparation wasn’t just physical. Before production began, the actor visited California’s notorious Corcoran Prison, home to Charles Manson, among other killers.

“We had a whole day up there, and it was one of the most frightening places I’ve ever been to,” Statham says. “Those guys were like soldiers preparing for war.”

At Anderson’s request, Statham gave his character a quiet dignity to go along with the nerves of steel and a whomp-’em fight game.

“This character is a bit of a quiet soul,” says the actor, 36. “Everything gets stripped away from him. He loses his wife, and his kid goes to foster parents so he hasn’t got a lot to say. He’s quite stoic, which is what Paul wanted.”

Working alongside Joan Allen was all the inspiration Statham needed to turn his character into a mountain of never-say-die might.

“Standing there listening to Joan Allen is not a bad day at the office,” he says. “She’s so intense. She doesn’t have to say too much to get her point across.”

In addition to showing off his ripped physique, “Death Race” allows Statham to demonstrate his ease behind the wheel. In the film, he drives a monster Mustang bedecked with machine guns, grenade launchers and flame-throwers. Off screen, Statham steers a white 208 GT2 Porsche.

Asked if he got to keep any of the cars from the movie, he says, “Paul didn’t give me a single one. I was very upset about that, but they’re not really road worthy. It’s hard to get past police cars with two mini-guns on the bonnet.”

So far, Statham has taken the scenic route to stardom. The Shirebrook, Derbyshire, native spent a dozen years as a member of Britain’s National Diving Squad before he was spotted by then-unknown British director Guy Ritchie.

Ritchie cast Statham in the hit 1998 flick “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and its 2000 follow-up “Snatch,” which co-starred Brad Pitt and Benicio Del Toro.

Afterward came a series of no-frills action films, including “The Transporter,” “The Italian Job” and “War.” Statham’s 2008 heist flick “The Bank Job” is the actor’s favorite among his films.

“That was a step in a different direction, and I was very pleased with that,” he says.

For the next few months, Statham will be on the fast track. In addition to shooting “Transporter 3,” due in November, he’ll star in “The Sweeney” alongside Ray Winstone and revisit his role as beat-the-clock hero Chev Chelios in “Crank 2: High Voltage.”

“High voltage — that’s an understatement,” he whoops. “It’s ridiculous. The writers locked themselves in a room for three days with five bottles of tequila and wrote the most offensive and outrageous script that I’ve ever read. It’s like the first ‘Crank’ times a thousand.”

After “Crank 2” wraps, Statham might find himself behind the wheel again either for “Death Race 2” or “The Brazilian Job,” a long-talked-about sequel to “The Italian Job.”

“I’m just doing what comes to me,” he says. “I don’t have any massive game plan or a calendar of what I need to achieve by a certain date. I do whatever makes sense at the time.”

Tweet	Follow @TLnews