The Re-Education of Jason Statham

Hollywood’s most authentic action hero is about to hit 50 like he hits pretty much everything else: with a bang. But this graduate of the british school of hard knocks is still being taught a few lessons – from the world’s smartest trainers, his hero Sylvester Stallone and, most importantly,his own body.

- Jamie Miller

The best thing about talking to Jason Statham is that it’s exactly what you’d hope talking to Jason Statham would be like. The voice that makes gravel sound like sand. The almost poetically geezerish turn of phrase that led director Guy Ritchie nearly two decades ago to cast the former street trader in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, then promote him to the lead in Snatch. The only unexpected bonus is the chuckle.

This partly explains Statham’s enormous popularity, and why his upcoming slate continues to be packed with sequels: Spy 2, The Expendables 4 and Fast & Furious 8. Okay, so he’s only been in three of the latter. But still, the point remains: audiences, whether cinemagoers or Men’s Health readers, want more of him, because what they see is what they get. Unlike the dodgy watches he used to flog, Statham is legit. Kosher. Proper.

Of course, a large part of his enduring appeal is down to the spectacular athleticism that has seen Statham triple-pike into the best seat at Hollywood’s top action-hero table. Impressively knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his training, Statham can teach even professional fitness writers a thing or two.

But even if he seems to have it all figured out, as he approaches his fiftieth birthday (yes, really), Statham is the first to admit that he’s still learning all the time.

For the benefit of the reader, can you explain how we came to be photographing you in New Zealand?

Sure. I was over there shooting a film for Warner Bros about a big shark [Meg, out in 2018, which sounds ridiculously brilliant, or brilliantly ridiculous]. I’m very excited about that. And the good fortune was I was able to get a great house there and set up a nice gym.