Jason Statham's Action Career Officially Began 23 Years Ago Today

Jason Statham was officially crowned the next action icon in 2002 when he starred in the first of The Transporter series. Jason Statham’s action movies have become a genre staple, and while he might not veer away from a certain formula, it’s hard not to have fun with even his mediocre efforts.

Throughout the 2000s, Statham built himself up as the next big action star, to the point that Sylvester Stallone casting him in The Expendables franchise felt like Sly pᴀssing the torch. Statham had an unusual path to stardom, coming from working on London market stalls and being an extra in music videos for Erasure or The Shamen.

Guy Ritchie gave Statham his acting debut in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. After that low-budget gangster comedy was an unexpected smash, Statham became the lead in Ritchie’s follow-up, Snatch. For a time, it appeared Statham’s fate was to be a character actor, but his career soon took a most unexpected direction.

The Transporter’s Release In 2002 Changed Jason Statham’s Career Forever

After playing supporting roles in several Hollywood movies that put his martial arts skills to use, producer Luc Besson wrote an action vehicle for Statham. Dubbed The Transporter, this cast Statham as a terse driver who works for criminal organizations, undertaking dangerous jobs and operating under strict rules.

Nobody was expecting the star of Snatch to become the next action guy, but that’s exactly what happened when The Transporter debuted on October 11, 2002. The film became a word-of-mouth hit for its action (particularly the greased-up bus fight) and Statham’s unique screen presence.

It received predictably tepid reviews, but the film grossed over $44 million worldwide and became a bestseller on DVD. More importantly for Statham, it typecast him in the action genre. In addition to fronting Transporter sequels, he followed the original’s success with projects like The Italian Job and Crank.

While he had duds like In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, by the 2010s, he was firmly established as one of the biggest action stars in the world. Even in the 2020s, Statham is fronting hits like The Beekeeper, in addition to having reliable franchises like The Fast and the Furious to fall back on.

One of the most impressive things about Statham has been his longevity. In the 20+ years since The Transporter, he’s maintained his stardom, and while many action stars tend to head straight to video after a while, he’s still fronting major releases. Again, it was hard to foresee his career heading in that direction back during the Snatch years.

Jason Statham Had Already Starred In Several Action Movies

While The Transporter established Statham’s leading man credentials, it was actually his third action movie. Ghosts of Mars was Statham’s first action role, and remains one of his few horror movies. Statham was originally eyed for the lead role, but his lack of star power led to Ice Cube replacing him.

Director John Carpenter then beefed up a supporting role to give Statham more to do. Ghosts of Mars features Statham firing ᴀssault rifles and kicking possessed miners in the face, but the setpieces aren’t particularly well filmed. The choreography is a tad stiff, with many of the fights feeling sluggish.

Still, in a sci-fi horror film where the leads underplay their roles, Statham’s cocky arrogance gives Ghosts of Mars a welcome boost. His follow-up to the film was The One, a multiverse-hopping action flick that borrows its tone from The Matrix. This cast Jet Li as a good guy cop being chased by his supervillain doppelgänger.

Jason Statham’s future Fast and Furious co-star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was originally cast as the lead of The One, before later dropping out.

The film gave Statham a wig and an ill-fitting American accent as a multiverse agent chasing the evil version of Li. The film was a modest success despite bad reviews and is a guilty pleasure when viewed through modern eyes. While he gets plenty of screentime, The One largely wastes the young Statham.

A planned fight between him and Li was cut during production, so much of his time is spent developing exposition with a bad American accent. It’s not the best showcase for Statham, but The Transporter itself would be tailor-made for his skill set. It cut down on the dialogue and gave him plenty of fight scenes to perform.

Jason Statham’s Career Could Have Been Very Different Without The Transporter

Jason Statham looking tough in The Beekeeper.

Coming off the back of some not especially well-received films could have been the end of Statham’s action run. Had Besson not seen his potential and built The Transporter around him, it’s interesting to imagine what Statham’s career would have been if it didn’t involve driving cool cars and punching people.

There are a couple of options on this front. He could have taken after follow Lock, Stock… star Vinnie Jones in making supporting appearances in blockbusters like Swordfish, while fronting his own low-budget British action films and thrillers. Given Statham’s martial arts talent, he could have prefigured the rise of Scott Adkins by a good ten years, too.

On the other hand, Statham is a pretty capable actor when given good material to work with. He may have followed in the path of his other Lock, Stock… and Snatch co-stars like Jason Flemyng or Nick Moran by becoming a reliable character actor.

They may not be fronting big-budget projects, but they’re never out of work and it’s always great to see them pop up. Instead, The Transporter drove (sorry) Jason Statham in a different direction, and here’s to (at least) another 23 years on top of the action food chain.