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Statham loves his new 'Job'

By Kelly Jane Torrance
March 7, 2008

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Jason Statham is enthusiastic about his new film "The Bank Job." He loves the story, he loves the central character he plays. The London-born actor enjoyed the extensive research that he and the director, Roger Donaldson, did before making the movie, which is based on a true story.

However, he's surprised to learn, via this reporter, just how much of that real-life tale the movie apparently reveals.

"The Bank Job" is based on the 1971 robbery of a Baker Street bank in London. No one was ever arrested for the crime, in which safety deposit boxes were looted. It made headlines at the time, but only for a few days — the case was slapped with a D-Notice, an official request to quit publicizing it because of national security concerns.

Only after the heist is complete does Mr. Statham's leader discover that he's been sent in by a government agency to recover compromising photos of a member of the royal family that an unsavory blackmailer has been using to stay out of jail. The film names that member of royalty: Princess Margaret. The real Princess Margaret was, of course, Queen Elizabeth II's younger sister and notorious for a controversial love life.

Mr. Statham, speaking by telephone from Paris where he's shooting "Transporter 3" and reprising his role as the title character in the action franchise, sounds shocked to hear "The Bank Job" actually names a real royal personage. "We might be getting a knock on the front door soon," he laughs. "We didn't set out to upset anybody, and we certainly don't want to embarrass anybody."

The 35-year-old actor is used to playing the kind of guy who would rob a bank. After making his debut in Guy Ritchie's crime flick "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," he went on to star in the director's similarly themed follow-ups, "Snatch" and "Revolver." He played a hit man in "Crank" and helped execute "The Italian Job."

He sees his character in "The Bank Job" as a bit of a departure, however.

"I play a car dealer. One of the driving forces behind it is that I'm under pressure from the people I normally play, from the villains, from the bad guys. He's got debts to pay," he says, adding that wanting to give his family a better future is an "endearing" reason to commit a heist. "It's great for me, I get to play a father, and I get to play the husband. I never get to play that, usually. It's an adult film for me."

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