[2][3] Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing, and karate recreationally in his youth while working at local market stalls.

An avid footballer and diver, he was a member of Britain's national diving team and competed for England in the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Statham's history of working at market stalls inspired his casting in the Guy Ritchie crime films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000).

His voice acting work includes the documentaries Thai Boxing: A Fighting Chance (2002), Truth in 24 (2008) and its 2012 sequel, and the animated film Gnomeo & Juliet (2011).

[7] His father also worked odd jobs as a house painter, coal miner, and singer in the Canary Islands.

[8] Statham moved to Great Yarmouth, where he initially chose not to follow his father's career working the local market stalls, instead practising martial arts.

A spokesperson for the high street clothing chain said, "We chose Jason because we wanted our model to look like a normal guy.

[17][18] While working as a model for French Connection, Statham was introduced to fledgling filmmaker Guy Ritchie,[19] who was developing a film and needed to fill the role of a streetwise con artist.

After learning about Statham's past as a market stall salesman, Ritchie cast him in the crime comedy thriller Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).

On the occasion of Death Race, White championed Statham's "best track record of any contemporary movie star.

Statham plays Lee Christmas, a former SAS soldier and expert at close quarters combat using knives.

A theatrical trailer depicting Statham's character "shooting a man's head off" was banned from circulation by the Advertising Standards Authority for showing excessive violence.

[34] UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph hailed Statham as "England's best export to action movies in just about forever, a businesslike brute with gentlemanly soul.

"[40] A 2012 BBC News report estimated that his ten-year film career to date (2002 to 2012) yielded over one billion dollars in the box office, making him one of the industry's most bankable stars.

[41] In 2013, Statham had a cameo appearance at the end of Fast & Furious 6 as the brother of the film's antagonist Owen Shaw (Luke Evans).

[50] In 2015 he starred in the action comedy Spy alongside Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law, and Rose Byrne.

[51][52][53][54] According to an article by Empire magazine, a Spy 2 was development in late 2015, with more screen time dedicated for Statham's character, Rick Ford.

[56] Statham was offered a three-film contract to reboot the Transporter series in late 2015, but turned it down because he was not given the script before the signing date and unhappy with its compensation package.

[57][58] According to an article by The Guardian, Statham expressed interest in playing James Bond in the upcoming Spectre film.

While the film overall received mixed reviews, Statham was praised for his comedic timing and onscreen chemistry with contemporaries.

[73][74] Statham played the lead, former Naval captain Jonas Taylor, in the 2018 action-horror film The Meg, which was released on 10 August.

An article by Adam Gabbatt in The Guardian noted that Statham's character contributions to his industry and film niche are "tough [and] uncompromising".

"[79] Statham's impact on the action-thriller genre has been seen by Gabbatt as a replacement of the same undertaken by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Jean-Claude Van Damme during their runs as headliners throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

[79] Statham himself cites Stallone, Bruce Lee, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, and Clint Eastwood as his inspirations.

[82] An article by Times Higher Education reported that Manchester University Press commissioned an academic study analysing the impact Statham has had on the British and American film industries from his debut in 1998 to 2018.

According to the article, professors Steven Gerrard and Robert Shail are looking to show "the changing face of British cinematic masculinity" into "one that embraces cinema across a wide range of projects, but one that also uses cross-textual media in his output".

[4] While filming on location in Bulgaria for The Expendables 3, he drove a truck off the road in Varna and crashed into the Black Sea due to malfunctioning brakes.