Some actors are just born to play action stars, and Jason Statham is one of them. For the better part of the 2000s, the celebrity was responsible for the resurgence of the tough, no-holes barred action hero in films like The Transporter, The Italian Job, The Mechanic, and many more.
Thanks to his extensive martial arts training, these roles became second nature to him. Interestingly, Statham also had the opportunity to become a serious sportsman in Hollywood when he took up diving professionally. While the star even represented Britain as part of the national team, his greatest disappointment was narrowly missing the golden chance to participate at the Olympics.
Jason Statham Almost Became An Olympian, But The Dream was Not To Be
Jason Statham took to action like a fish to water. Incidentally, the action star could have literally made water his home if he had pursued his career as a diver. The Transporter star took up the sport professionally, which saw him representing Britain in the 1990 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand (via Olympics.com).
Statham who had top 10 finishes in the different diving disciplines, expectedly had his eyes set on the biggest stage in the world, the Olympics. Spurred on by his national team selection, the Crank actor worked hard to participate in the Olympic trials for the 1988 games in Seoul, and the 1992 games in Barcelona.
Unfortunately, he could not get past this initial stage into the main competition. The Expendables actor during a premiere of one of his films, rued this fact, but was quick to admit that he may not have been cut out to progress beyond this stage.
It’s a bit of a sore point that I never got to the Olympics. I started too late. It probably wasn’t my thing. I should have done a different sport.
As it turned out, the celebrity’s regrets about the sport did not last long when he found his calling in Hollywood as a bankable action hero who brought a lot of commercial success to the films he starred in.
Diving Taught Jason Statham Many Life Lessons
While Jason Statham could not find that extra yard that would have pushed his diving career to greater heights, the discipline went a long way in how his personality was moulded. The actor who competed at a high level by representing his country, expectedly had to put in a lot of hard work to get to where he was.
Even with this effort, the Olympics escaped him. But the sport taught the star a lot more than just skills and abilities. In an interview with IGN, Statham spoke about his tryst with diving and how it shaped his personality.
I spent 12 years on the national squad. And it was a great experience, you know, to travel the world and compete at a certain level. It teaches you discipline, focus, and certainly keeps you out of trouble.
Apart from developing his personality, the skills Statham learnt in the sport had a huge impact when it came to the physicality of being an action star. His arduous training held him in good stead when he performed death-defying stunts to perfection.