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The Mechanic

Coverage by Nobuhiro Hosoki

Story : Arthur Bishop is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. When his mentor and close friend Harry is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed - he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop's trade.

Opened January 28, 2011

Runtime:1 hr. 40 min.

Q&A with Jason Statham

 

(Q): What can you tell us about “The Mechanic”?
 
(Jason Statham): Well “The Mechanic” is a remake of a Charles Bronson classic filmed in 1972. Irwin Winkler is a very well established producer, he did “Rocky” and many, many great films, “Raging Bull.” He decided to do a remake. It’s very difficult to know what to do with something that’s from 1972; you’ve got to modernize it for today’s audience, and we hopefully have done something good with it. There are always the questions of did you do the right thing or did you not? The comparisons are always going to get made.
 
(Q): I head when you first got the script it was the original script from the ’72 film, right?
 
(Jason Statham): Exactly. I had no idea it was the original script, I thought it was a complete modernization of it, and it was the actual shooting script. Ironically that was what I said yeah I want to do it.
 
(Q): Were you involved at all in modernizing it, updating it, trying to contemporize it?
 
(Jason Statham): My skills are certainly not with a pen and paper. I’ll leave that to the professionals, so I didn’t get involved. You get more involved as you go on. When you start the filming of certain scenes and as you go on the collaboration is with your costars and the director and there are certain changes that get made along the way. But for the actual delivering of a shooting script you kind of stay away.
 
(Q): As an iconic figure yourself in film kind of inheriting or taking on this role that Charles Bronson, an iconic figure himself, made popular almost 40 years ago. Do you owe anything to that legacy? Do you think about that and do you try and update that yourself to the extent you can?
 
(Jason Statham): You try not to think about it. Charles Bronson, they’re big boots to fill so you try not to get influenced by what he did. It’s an unachievable thing to try and go well I’m going to do what he did in that one. So there are certain things you just have to make your own. The script is very different. It took so many different turns; I saw about four or five different drafts that were ways away from the original. So in the end it kind of came full circle and there was certainly a significant homage to the original.
 
(Q): We’re fascinated with hit men. We find them sympathetic somehow in films like this and I guess I’m interested in knowing how do you find your character, Bishop? How do you find the sympathy there and how do you get into a place where you’re playing a killer but he’s cool?
 
(Jason Statham): That’s a good question. He’s a guy that takes care of people that need taking care of. He’s dealing with pedophiles and arms dealers, so these are people that do get their comeuppance. So he does have a certain moral compass and you have to have that otherwise you’re just going to be some cold blooded killer working for money. He’s very human in a lot of respects. He takes on this protégé, McKenna’s son, played by the brilliant Ben Foster, and there’s a significant amount of guilt there that humanizes Bishop.

(Q): He’s a character that obviously we don’t know a lot about. We don’t know anything about his past, anything about his relationships. Was that something you thought about that you kind of put together his back story? Or did you leave it unknown so you could play him in the contemporary sense?
 
(Jason Statham): No I think it’s very important to have this kind of mystery about someone who lives a solitary lifestyle. He plays this very methodical, deliberate sort of guy. He’s very disconnected from any social circles or anything, so the less you know about him the more you can believe that he’s capable of doing these kinds of things. He has to be completely detached. So you do have your own back story but it’s not something that you need to dwell on I don’t think for the sake of the movie.

(Jason Statham): It’s been a while since we made the movie. It’s funny, you go to work and you end up doing other films and you kind of forget what happened. I hadn’t seen the finished film yet. I’ve been on holiday so I missed the finished film. Bishop finds out there’s a lot more at stake than what’s actually been told to him in the past so there’s deception at stake here.
 
(Q): I want to talk to you a little bit more about acting in the action drama because there is a line in here where Bishop says you have to have a certain mind set and the best jobs are where no one even knows you were there. A lot of actors approach their own work with that same philosophy. Do you relate to that as an actor as well?

(Jason Statham): It’s difficult for me because I’m not really what you’d call a character actor. I don’t have a traditional training; in fact I have no training. I sort of came from a street corner if you like and got whisked into a career that I had never had any dreams about as a kid. I don’t have any skills that were passed down to me so I don’t tend to play characters that are too far away from people that I can say I’ve grown up with. I get influenced by a lot of people that I’ve grown up around so I tend to play people within my stretch, if you like. It’s not like I’m putting on wigs and beards and hiding behind different characters in that way.
 
(Q): That’s fair. By the same token though this is a very complex role. There is a lot going on in this role, especially as it relates to Ben Foster and his character. Things like “The Bank Job” as well; that’s a very specific character and that’s another remake of a great film. I sense that you’re trying to take the next step in films like this and “The Bank Job.” Do you have that ambition?
 
(Jason Statham): Absolutely, yeah. I’m driven surely by great character development and great stories. A lot of the time fabulous things don’t always land on my lap. We can only select from what’s in front of us, you can only eat from what’s on the table. So I think the quality of what I’m doing definitely comes from movies like “The Bank Job” and certainly this one. I just recently made a movie with Robert De Niro and Clive Owen, which is again a true story inspired by a book written by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. So definitely it’s something that I’m aiming to keep up or do more of.
 
(Q): A lot of times actors have turned to producing to actually get those roles and develop those scripts, develop those projects. Is that something you would want to do as well?
 
(Jason Statham): Absolutely, yeah. We’ve got a couple of things that we’re trying to get made. It’s funny, I’ve been at it a few years now and you learn so much from you mistakes and to be more involved you can sort of control certain aspects of the finished product. The more involved you are the more responsible you are and the more you can wear it.
 
(Q): How have you involved yourself?
 
(Jason Statham): Just by the creative process, certainly on “The Bank Job.” Not so much on this one, but “The Killer Elite,” which is the De Niro, Clive Owen project, very involved from start to finish every step of the way, and to keep doing that in the future.
 
(Q): I want to talk a little bit about Ben Foster as well because he seems like a guy who’s full of surprises. Just his presence on screen adds tension. Did you sense that?
 
(Jason Statham): Yeah, but he’s like that in real life. He’s a very intense guy and a brilliant, brilliant actor. It just raises the level of what kind of movie this is. It’s not just an action film, you’ve got brilliant Ben Foster and you’ve got Donald Sutherland, who again is really respected all around the world, so it puts it in a place that some of my other movies haven’t been in. I’ve worked with literally hair dressers cast off the street, and all of a sudden I’m doing films with Ben Foster and Donald Sutherland, so it’s great.
 
(Q): Can you maybe give us an example of how you and Ben are on this set? How he’s keeping you on your toes, how you’re keeping him on his toes, the back and forth. How was that relationship?
 
(Jason Statham): Well he’s just got so much to bring. He’s constantly trying to make everything better constantly. Every day he comes with new ideas and some brilliant suggestions of how he can improve things. And it’s just that constant effort from him. He cares so much and you see that with the way his movies are. He’s a brilliant, brilliant actor and he just cares so much, I think that’s what makes it so significant.

(Q) : Ben Foster’s a very intense sort of guy in real life and he’s playing very much that in this film. He’s got a lot of rage, a lot of anger, and he doesn’t have a place to put it. He’s looking for something to do and he feels that I owe him and he’s looking for revenge and he’s asking me if I’ll teach him the skills of being a mechanic.
 
(Q): You and Ben share several action scenes in this, really intense fight scenes. What did he pick up from you? What kind of tips were you passing off to Ben Foster, who’s more known for his dramatic roles and very intense characters?
 
(Jason Statham): I’m not one to give tips. He’s a very confident guy and who am I to say how to do things?
 
(Q): Well you’re jumping off a bridge in the beginning of the film.

(Jason Statham): Yeah, I’m stupid enough and silly enough to keep doing those stunts. I think the stunt that I can talk about is there’s a massive high fall which is over 300 feet high. And you get strapped into this small little harness and you’re hoping everything stays in tact. It’s scary for someone who does stunts for a living, and for someone who doesn’t like heights, which he doesn’t. I mean it’s ridiculous to imagine that he was going to do this stunt, but as soon as he knew that I was going to do it he’s the first person to go “Okay, good enough for you, I’m going to do it too.” So it just shows you the male ego and how it gets you stuck in these situations. But he toughed it out and I was immensely impressed by how brave and committed he is. He’s so committed to the part.
 
(Q): I want to watch that clip but set us up a little more. You and Ben actually did that stunt?

(Jason Statham): We did it for real, yeah. We make a big effort to try and do real stunts, real action. I’ve always been impressed by people that do their own. I’ve been inspired by Bruce Lee and people that do their own stunts. Jackie Chan. There’s no substitute for actually getting in there and getting your hands dirty with the real stuff, and I think the camera always finds that. People rely far too much on green screen and the technology now you can make an action star out of your granny. It’s so easy to put somebody in a sequence and just cover it with cuts and tight shots and it’s so boring. The same thing with this; we wanted to shoot it through the camera and if it’s possible to do, which it certainly is, why not? It makes all the sense in the world to me.

 
(Q): Some actors don’t like watching themselves on screen. Do you like watching your films? Are they exciting to you, are they action packed for you?
 
(Jason Statham): It’s nice to see how they put it all together. You spend all those weeks and weeks doing things and I think it’s interesting to see how it comes together. And for me a lot of actors they don’t watch the monitor, they’re not interested, it puts them off, and they’re very particular and they don’t want to see themselves, and I’m the other way. I was working recently with Sylvester Stallone, and he’s got two massive big plasma screens in a tent and you can see exactly what you’re doing and what you’re not doing. For action movies it’s an essential thing to go and watch the monitor. It shows you exactly what you need to do to make the physical changes and the timing could be out. If there are multiple opponents you don’t know how that fixes in through the lens, whether it’s in the right relationship. I mean there are so many reasons to watch the monitor. For me I couldn’t work without one.
 
(Q): Having worked with Stallone and seeing how that worked would you ever want to direct?
 
(Jason Statham): I think eventually when all the joints have given up and the muscles don’t work anymore, sure. That’ll be something to keep me going. I love making movies and being involved in the movie industry as long as I can. I think once I can’t do any more action films then maybe I’ll put the director’s hat on; who knows. It could be terrible, it could be good.
 
(Q): Can you tell us more about “The Killer Elite,” how it came together and when we can expect it?
 
(Jason Statham): Yeah, it’s a book written about Sir Ranulph Fiennes and it’s based on a book called “The Feather Men.” It’s a true story based on true events and it’s set on the backdrop of the War, and it’s about a Saudi prince who has three of his sons assassinated and he hires three guys to go and straighten things out. But the guys in question have to make the assignation of the soldiers that killed the three sons they have to videotape the confessions. So it’s a very tough request and it’s probably one of the good films that I’ve done.
 
(Q): Do you have a release date for that yet?
 
(Jason Statham): I don’t know, I’m not sure on the release date, but I’m excited to see that one. 

(Q): Is there a possibility that the “Transporter” can be a weekly series on television? Was that ever a thought?
 
(Jason Statham): It wasn’t something I had suggested.
 
(Q): It would be absolutely perfect because television only has reality shows right now, and I think something like that, even if it was something that would take six to eight weeks, one story line, sometimes similar to the “Wise Guy” series. It would be perfect for that.
 
(Jason Statham): I wouldn’t get no time off. How am I going to be drinking in the pub? I’ll be working every week. Thanks darling.
 
(Q): You mentioned earlier that as a kid you never thought about being an actor. Now that you are is there any particular role that you really want that hasn’t really come your way just yet or any particular actor you wish to work with?
 
(Jason Statham): I don’t know, I’d like to play a real-life character like an autobiographical thing in some way maybe. That might be fun. It’s always good to play someone real.
 
(Q): Earlier action stars like Charles Bronson; how much are you familiar with their career and are there any of them that you consider a role model for you or you’ve learned a few tricks from previously?
 
(Jason Statham): I love all the movies from the ‘70s; “Dirty Harry,” Clint Eastwood, Bronson, all of those chaps. They’re some of my favorite, favorite films. There was such an era of guy’s guys. I think the first Bronson movie I saw was “Hard Times” and I loved that, it’s personally one of my favorites of Bronson. I think the ‘70s provided such a great bunch of tough guys doing great things and I suppose they have influenced me, yeah.
 
(Q): What movie did you enjoy most doing?
 
(Jason Statham): It’s a very hard question because every one has its own appeal and you have such a great experience working with great actors. I suppose when I did “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” it was such a significant time for me because it was just a bunch of lads playing with a subject that we all knew so much about and it’s such colorful characters around us. And I got to meet Lenny McLean, one of the toughest guys, the big legendary bare knuckled boxer. I met Vinnie Jones and tons of other people that weren’t exactly actors but we’d seen around and known from living in London. I look back with great nostalgia with that movie especially.

(Q): We know you like playing the tough guy. Is there ever a time you think you’re going to play “Romeo and Juliet,” really, really romantic?
 
(Jason Statham): Oh dear. The romantic comedy. People don’t see me that way; I don’t know why. They don’t send me those scripts. They go straight to the people that do them so well. I keep getting the other ones. But I’m very open to do something like that. I love all kinds of movies and something that gets asked to me quite a lot is that question. If it’s a good script and there’s a great director and he thinks I’m right for the role I would definitely say yes to it, for sure.
 
(Q): A few years ago I saw that you were thinking about doing the sequel to “The Italian Job.” Wasn’t there a sequel in the works?
 
(Jason Statham): There was in the works but it’s been so long now it just doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. Who knows. It’s been floating around for a long, long time. It just feels that if they leave it any longer they’ll have to recast it, we’ll all be dead. We had such a great time. That’s another film that I had a great time working on. I met Wahlberg and Mos Def and Charlize. A great crowd of people. Seth, yeah. Brilliant.
 
(Q): I was wondering if you saw Ricky Gervais’ performance at The Golden Globes? If he went to town on you would you offended or would you just see it as a good crack?
 
(Jason Statham): Ricky Gervais is someone who does what he does. He’s a comedian, so it’s not to be taken literally. He’s just trying to create a bit of humor. He can say what he likes about me; I don’t care.
 
(Q): You were talking about Lenny and “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” If I were on set around these guys I think most of us would be intimidated as hell. What, if anything, intimidates you on a set? Does anything scare you when you get on a movie set or just in general? Because you look kind of fearless up there.

(Jason Statham): Bobby De Niro intimates you.
 
(Q): How so?

(Jason Statham): Well because he’s like a cinema god, he’s like the greatest living actor. He’s my favorite and has been for years. So to be in a position where you’ve got to try and do a good job there’s a certain intimidation with that because he’s someone you’ve watched for years and grown up with, you want to be great in his eyes. So initially the anxiety comes from that and then once you’ve done a few rehearsals it’s the most amazing experience in the world because it’s as real as it ever gets with him, he’s just amazing. But initially when he walks on a set everybody just stops what they’re doing because he’s a living legend. He’s got such an aura.
 
(Q): What was the most difficult stunt you ever had to do on a movie?
 
(Jason Statham): I’ve done a few stupid ones. Each one has a certain amount of problems within its dangers and execution. I was strapped to a helicopter on the first “Crank” movie and we actually took off from the top of a tall building that was a skyscraper in downtown LA. And usually if you take off from the ground you can adjust as you start climbing you can adjust. As the floor starts to disappear from you you get a sense of adjustment. But we took off from the top of a building and just popped straight over the edge and then you’ve got 400 feet of emptiness beneath you to the street.

So it’s an immediate shock. So all of a sudden you get a complete rush of adrenaline. And I was standing on the skis outside the helicopter, two feet on one of the skis and then a small hip pick and a very thin line that’s bolted to the floor of the helicopter. And as soon as we popped over the edge you get the rush of adrenaline and your legs are just like a sewing machine leg and it’s just an uncontrollable rush of adrenaline and that takes a few minutes for you to get control of. It’s highly recommended if you like to put yourself in a spot.
 
(Q): What advice would you give to someone who’s trying to get into the action film business?
 
(Jason Statham): I don’t know if I’m good with advice. I fell into it just by luck. It was like a lottery ticket for me so I don’t know if there are any channels to take or how it works. You have to be very lucky and you have to meet the right people. But if you have a passion for it a lot of people get in there through hard work and determination. It’s about being able to deal with rejection and push forward and believe in yourself I think.

End.