Jason Statham: Acting drunk is hard


Jason Statham has joked he’s had “40 years of prep” ahead of playing a drunk man in his newest film.

The British actor stars as Joey Jones in Hummingbird – a thriller that tells the story of a homeless war veteran trying to get his life back together on the streets of London.

Statham does a lot of drunken acting in Hummingbird and has joked about how he got himself into the mindset of his character before portraying him intoxicated.

“40 years of prep I’ve had on that one mate!” he laughed in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian. “No, it’s hard because you can’t be drunk and who knows what kind of stupid behaviour you get up to when you are drunk.

“I think if someone videoed you, you’d probably be embarrassed; you’d probably never drink again!

“It’s hard to try and play that kind of behaviour when you don’t really know what you’re doing. But you have an idea. You have to have a certain kind of confidence in that unchartered territory.”

Statham is famed for his tough guy roles in films including Revolver, Snatch, The Expendables and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

The 45 year old found his role in Hummingbird a refreshing change to his other big screen parts.

“It’s so different to what I normally do. A lot of the characters I’ve played before are heroic or invincible in some ways and not tuned into fear and anxiety and pain,” he explained.

“This wasn’t so radically different that I’d fall flat on my face. I felt it still played to some of my strengths and wasn’t light years away from a character I thought I could get my shoes on with.”

Meanwhile, Statham reportedly enjoyed a “wild night” out with a group of female fans in New York City over the weekend.

The star started his night at Lower East Side restaurant Dorrian’s Red Hand on Friday, with a source telling the New York Daily News: “They had to carry him back to his hotel room at the Waldorf Astoria while he was completely incapacitated.”

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– Cover Media

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