Jason Statham is among the top action stars in the world appearing in action movies often performing his own stunts. Typically, the roles that the actor plays are gritty and grim appearing as a rough guy hard to mess with.
The English actor has been a competitive diver in the past, so, it was comparatively easier for the actor to trick death when he met an on-set accident that almost drowned the actor. Statham managed to get away.
Jason Statham’s Near Death Incident On Set
Jason Statham almost drowned during a test drive on the set of The Expendables 3. The cast of the movie was filming a scene on the edge of the dock “on the edge of the Black Sea” in Bulgaria. “I’m driving a big three-ton flat […] truck. Everybody was supposed to get on the back,” Statham told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. But before they get on Statham took a test drive.
So, I’m in the truck there, slammed on the break where I’m supposed to stop, nothing happens. Next thing, you know, I’ve hit two cameramen. Literally thought, I killed them, it was like split second later, I’m going nine over the edge of this concrete jetty and I’m going down towards the Black Sea thinking I’ve gotta get out of this, this is ridiculous.”
The actor did not lose his concentration and attempted a way out of the horrifying situation. Statham then tried to get out of the truck through the window, however, the truck hit the water. “The water just slams me back and I was like sinking fast, straight to the bottom,” the 55-year-old said.
“So, like 60 feet at the bottom of the Black Sea, stuck in the mud, thinking, ‘hang on a minute, I’m gonna get out of this.’”
T he actor was not wearing a seatbelt as he said it was not necessary at the time but he was wearing a lot of props which was part of his costume design which could be fatal for the actor when he was sinking but he got composure and eventually got out of the water.
Sylvester Stallone Was Present at the Scene
Statham’s co-star Sylvester Stallone was on the scene of the accident filming the accident. “At that point Jimmy, I mean you do really understand who your friends are. So, I’m looking around, […] where’s Sly? He, you know, stood on the side of the dock with his iPhone,” Statham said. “Jason, you need a towel?” Statham said recalling Stallone’s reaction mimicking his voice. However, the crew was all worried.
“He faced death. He was test-driving a three-ton truck and the brakes run out. t went down 60ft into the Black Sea and became impaled. Luckily we had taken the doors off before. If anyone else had been in that truck we would have been dead because we were all wearing heavy boots and gun belts. We would have drowned. But because Jason is an Olympic-quality diver he got out of it,” Stallone once said.
Thankfully, the actor used his skills as he has been scuba diving and freediving in the past and that immensely helped the actor but it was still a terrifying nightmare for him. “I barely f**king made it to the surface. I’ve been scuba diving and freediving before, but this was touch and go whether I was going to make it,” Statham recalled. The Transporter actor will always remember the incident even though he often jokes about it.
Statham and Stallone will appear in The Expendables 4. The Scott Waugh-directed movie is set to hit the theatres on 22 September 2023.