Jason Statham was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, to dancer Eileen (Yates) and street merchant and lounge singer Barry Statham. In 1992, he was a member of the British National Diving Team and placed 12th in the World Championships. He's also worked as a model, a black market salesman, and, of course, an actor. He was approached by French Connection, for whom he was modeling, for an audition for his first part as Bacon in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).
They became a significant investment in the film and introduced Jason to Guy Ritchie, who challenged him to imitate an illegal street vendor and persuade him to buy false jewelry to audition for a part in it. After the success of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Jason teamed up with Guy Ritchie again for Snatch (2000), which starred Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina, and Benicio Del Toro. After Snatch (2000), he starred, in Turn, It Up (2000) alongside Ja Rule, followed by a supporting role in the science fiction thriller Ghosts of Mars (2001), Jet Li's The One (2001), and another screen collaboration with Vinnie Jones in Mean Machine (2001) for Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn's SKA Films. Finally, in 2002, he was cast as Frank Martin, the main character in The Transporter (2002). Jason also starred as Handsome Rob in the summer 2003 blockbuster version of The Italian Job (1969), The Italian Job (2003) and more he acted!