Manchester University Press

Jason Statham has risen from street seller through championship diving and modelling to become arguably the biggest British male film star of the twenty-first century. This is the first book to offer a critical analysis of his work across a variety of media, including film, television, video games and music videos. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of Statham's career, from his distinctive screen presence to his style, branding and celebrity. Accessibly written, and featuring a contribution from Hollywood director Paul Feig, who worked with Statham on the 2015 action-comedy Spy, the collection will appeal to a wide audience of scholars, students and fans.

Introduction - Steven Gerrard and Robert Shail
1 Reframing the British tough guy: Jason Statham as postmodern hero - Robert Shail
2 'I'm certainly not Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt': Jason Statham, fandom and a new type of (anti)hero - Renee Middlemost
3 The power of Statham - Paul Feig
4 'It's that peasant mentality': the cult persona of Jason Statham, Hollywood outsider - Jonathan Mack
5 A balancing act(or): Jason Statham and the ensemble film - Sarah Thomas
6 Blagging it both ways: The Bank Job and the British heist movie - James Chapman
7 Jason Statham in Spy: subverting genre and gender - Clare Smith
8 Arthouse Statham - Martin Carter
9 Transporting Jason Statham: national identity in the Transporter trilogy - Jennie Lewis-Vidler
10 The avatar hero: exploring the virtualisation of the Statham brand - Dean Bowman and Erin Pearson
11 Ageing Statham: expendable expendable? - Nathasha Parcei
12 Crank it up! Scoring Statham - Shelley O'Brien
13 Clothes make the man: Statham's sartorial serendipity - Steven Gerrard
Conclusion - Steven Gerrard and Robert Shail
Index

Editors

Steven Gerrard is Reader in Film in the Northern Film School, School of Arts, Leeds Beckett University
Robert Shail is Professor of Film and Director of Research in the School of Arts, Leeds Beckett University