If you’re currently following Team GB’s progress in the Olympics and also happen to be a fan of Jason Statham this might interest you.
You may or may not know that before the lovable rogue appeared in movies like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), The Transporter (2002), Crank (2006), The Expendables (2010) and more recently, The Meg (2018) and the Fast & Furious franchise, he was a top level diver and a member of the British National Diving Squad.
Yep, Statham (who was 23 at the time) even represented Great Britain in the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Aukland, New Zealand in the 10 metre, 3 metre and 1 metre competitions. He also had hair!
Although he failed to win a medal in any of his events, his diving career lead on to work in modelling for big names such as Tommy Hilfiger, Levis and French Connection. At the same time Statham peddled “fake jewellery and perfume on street corners” to make ends meet.
Not one to be lazy, the as-yet undiscovered action star even made small appearances in a number of music videos including, “Comin’ On” by The Shamen (1993), “Run to the Sun” by Erasure (1994) and Dream a “Little Dream of Me” by The Beautiful South (1995).
It was while working for French Connection that Statham was introduced to [then] up and coming director Guy Ritchie who was after someone to play a “street-wise con artist” in a film he was developing. After hearing of big J’s Del Boy-like antics he figured he’d found the man for the job and cast him in the role of “Bacon” in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.
The rest, as they say is history.
Want to see a clip of a young Jason Statham in Speedos showing his prowess on the springboard? Check out the video below.
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