Jason Statham says near-death experience on film set made him rethink his view on life

Jason Statham says a near-death experience on a film set made him “more appreciative” of life.

The action star, 52, who has a son Jack with his fiancée Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, almost drowned in 2013 while preparing a stunt scene for The Expendables 3.

In an interview with Red Bulletin, he described how he was driving a truck towards the sea when the brakes failed and he crashed over the wall. He tried to get out of the vehicle — which was in five to 10 metres of water — through an open window, but began to panic when his gun holster got stuck.

The actor, a former diver who competed for England at the Commonwealth Games in 1990, eventually managed to free himself.

Asked how the accident — which he described as “a nasty, nasty experience” — had shaped his life, he said: “It’s a real recalibration of everything. From that day on, I’ve been so appreciative of life and being able to walk on the ground. I think we all need [an experience] like that; one that puts things in perspective.”

At the film’s premiere in 2014, co-star Sylvester Stallone said Statham owed his life to his swimming skills, adding: “If anyone else had been in that truck we would have been dead because we were all wearing heavy boots and gun belts. But because Jason is an Olympic-quality diver he got out of it.”

Read the full interview in the October issue of The Red Bulletin, out with the Evening Standard tomorrow

Read more

Jason Statham imposter conned woman out of more than £100k

Danny Drinkwater wants Jason Statham to play him in Jamie Vardy film

Jason Statham slapped to the floor with giant hand on The Tonight Show