Jason Statham Survives 'Near-Death Experience' on the Set of 'The Expendables 3'
Brit hard man’s truck rolled into the Black Sea whilst filming in Bulgaria.
Mark Lankester 17 hours ago
Yahoo! UK Movies News
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Terry Crews in 'The Expendables 2' (Photo: Lionsgate)
Jason Statham doesn’t just act the hard man. The British actor has casually escaped a "near-death experience" on the set of "The Expendables 3" that left his action-hardened co-stars in shock.
Speaking to ‘The Tonight Show’ with Jay Leno, fellow Expendable Terry Crews, who co-stars in the Stallone-led movie, revealed the how the team was shooting a scene when a truck Statham was driving plunged into the Black Sea.
"I had a near-death experience," began Crews. "We were doing a stunt and Jason Statham was driving the truck, and we were supposed to be on the back of this truck. For some reason we’re over there talking, sipping smoothies and he gets in the truck… We’re in Varna, Bulgaria, on the edge of the Black Sea, he literally was supposed to stop the truck, we [get out and] shoot the whole thing."
"Well, the truck doesn't stop! The truck rolls over the dock, into the Black Sea with Jason Statham driving!"
"Now, this is the thing," admitted the former NFL star. "In your mind, you have an action film where you're like, if that happens I'm gonna grab the truck, I'm gonna do all this stuff. [But] I was like [screaming] 'Jason! Jason!’"
"I'm in a heap on the ground, he's in the water, in the truck! Now we are freaking out. Everybody's screaming, I'm [crying], and literally he gets out, swims to the top and the truck is gone. And we're supposed to be on the back of that thing, I was supposed to be on that!"
He added: "He gets back, they dry his clothes, and they're just like: 'We're going to shoot it again, we're going to shoot some more.' I'm like, 'What?' Let me tell you something, Jason Statham, he is a true bad, bad, badass… I couldn’t believe it!”
“It seems to me Jason Statham had the near-death experience,” host Leno laughed at Crews. “What you did is you watched a near-death experience!”
As it turns out, Statham has had ample experience in the water, which may also explain why he fared so well. The 46-year-old actor competed as a member of Britain's National Diving Squad for 12 years.
"The Expendables 3" with Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Arnold Schwarzenegger won't hit theaters until August 15, 2014. But Jason Statham will be seen next in "Homefront" (with a screenplay by Sly Stallone) on November 27.
it = (_!_)
