man of the moment Jason Statham

The 51-year-old actor’s best-known films include The Transporter and the Fast & Furious franchise. This month, he’s starring in new thriller The Meg

Jason lives in London with his fiancée model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and their one-year-old son, Jack.

My career... I’ve always loved movies. My mum and dad used to show me films – Cool Hand Luke, The Great Escape, all the Burt Lancaster movies. Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson – even musicals. My mum made sure I saw plenty of Gene Kelly. But I’ve never had an acting lesson; no one’s telling me how to act.

My roots… I see myself as a pretty standard sort of chap, really. I keep a lot of my pals close to me and I think that keeps my feet on the ground. Hollywood has a caustic effect on a lot of people. It’s a cruel business. You can get a big head about things. But what goes up must come down.

My heart-throb status… I don’t get a letter under the door saying, “Men want to be you, and women want to be with you.” I always think women want to be with Ryan Gosling. But if they want someone who can protect them? That I can do.

My downtime… Depending on the season, you’ll find me outdoors doing an activity. I need my activities. During holidays, I spend my time at the local boozer, where the only weights you lift are mugs of beer.

My new film The Meg… In the early stages of prep, we took a trip to Fiji and went diving with some bull sharks. There were 20 or 30 of these things, and they were hand-feeding them big tuna heads, and we got very, very close. It’s funny because you get anxiety when you’re on the boat, but once you get in the ocean, it goes away completely. Once you’re swimming down there with all the other divers, it’s phenomenal. It’s one of the greatest experiences you could have, for me anyway.

The Meg is released in cinemas on 10 August.