JASON STATHAM: Electric heart? How do you know about the electric heart?

Q: Oh, it’s out.

JASON STATHAM: Is it out?

Q: That must sound exciting for you to take a new angle on it.

JASON STATHAM: It is, but you know it’s hard to talk about this script because you look at The Bank Job [which is] a true story that is full of intrigue, surprise and deceit and Crank is just like from the fucking stratosphere. It is so out there, it’s so wacky, it’s so unbelievable, but at the same time it’s the Neveldine and Taylor edgy, mad filmmaking that they do so well. It’s fun. It’s entertainment. Some people think it’s sheer horseshit but every person that I’ve met has actually said it’s terrific. I’m sure there’s some people that don’t like it. You can’t please everybody but there’s a lot of people that love it and I particularly love it.

Q: Was it something where you missed Chev and you’re excited to get back to him?

JASON STATHAM: I said to the Chevs (DOES HE MEAN NEVELDINE AND TAYLOR??)… They said to me ‘You know we’ve written Crank II.’ And I said, ‘There’s no way!’ And they literally sent it over. They write very, very quickly and they sent me the script and I was thumbing through it with a box of tissues just laughing and crying, going, ‘This is absolutely silly. When do we make it?’

Q: Can you talk about this balance of doing more serious fare? What’s the appeal of something like Dungeon Siege for an actor?

JASON STATHAM: I did that 4 years ago, you know. I was in a completely different spot back then.

That’s a long time ago when I made that.

Q: With this film and also “In the Name of the King ,” you’re playing kind of a family man, in different eras, but you’re a father and a husband.

JASON STATHAM: It’s a kid’s thing. You know it’s for the kids and I wanted to work with Tony Chang who is one of the most predominant action choreographers in the world. If you’ve ever seen House of Flying Daggers or Hero, you only have to look no further than that, an opportunity to work with somebody like that stands for itself. Things change, time changes, you do things for different reasons at different periods of your life and that was back then.

Q: Did you ever consider getting in the ring with Uwe Boll when he staged that fight?

JASON STATHAM: [laughing] Would I like to get in the ring with Uwe?

Q: He had a boxing match with all his critics. Were you ever tempted to try him out?

JASON STATHAM: No. I don’t fight other people’s battles. You know I’ve got enough on my plate. I’ve got to try and get ready to do two films in the next five months. I don’t want to be fighting anybody. I do my fighting on the camera. Why would you want to do it …beat up…? I don’t know. People have their own reasons.

Q: What’s the other film you’re doing in the next five months?

JASON STATHAM: I’m doing Transporter 3.

Q: Luc Besson says he’s writing another one.

JASON STATHAM: Yeah. It’s pretty much done. So we’ll be on a plane to Paris.

Q: I think you had said you had some issues with where the second one went. Is it more back to the tone of the first one and did you have any input on it?

JASON STATHAM: You know what? I’m not going to say too much about it but it’s in a spot that I’m very happy with if that makes sense. It’s got a bit for everybody in it. I think it’s a decent script.

Q: Is there another movie in another franchise that you would like to jump into?

JASON STATHAM: Yeah, a few. There’s a couple of things out there. No, I’m not going to start giving you the names of them ‘cause it starts sounding a bit like sour grapes that you haven’t gotten them or you know, ‘Why didn’t I get that part?’ Or ‘You said I was going to get this part and you haven’t given it to me yet.’ But there’s a few cool things that I know that I’d be really good for. There’s a possible chance that they might come my way and if they do, then both of them have a great potential to be great franchises and it’s always good to do franchises, all the big action stuff. Sly’s done a few. They work well. The Die Hards, the Lethal Weapons. You get a good one and you can keep ‘em going.

Q: How far along is “The Italian Job” sequel? Is that still floating around?

JASON STATHAM: Yeah. I’ve been talking about that for two years, you know, ‘Tell us about The Brazilian Job.’ I think someone should just erase it from imdb and save us all a problem and just put it back on there when it’s fully due and ready. I don’t know. It’s just one of those things. It’s just sitting around.

Q: So what’s the order of your next five months?

JASON STATHAM: I’m gonna do Transporter 3 and then I’m gonna do Crank and I’m gonna have a little hunger now.

Q: Do you have a romantic comedy after that?

JASON STATHAM: Hey, me and Hugh Grant. [Laughs]

Q: Your voice is very distinctive. Have you ever thought of lending it to an animation project?

JASON STATHAM: Yeah. I really have tried. I’ve auditioned a few times for animation. Yeah, I have and I never quite got it. Every time I got picked to the post, but I would love to. Love to. Any of those big animation films I love. It’s something that’s on the list of things to do.

Q: Is one of the franchises you’re interested in “The Equalizer”? They’re making a movie of that.

JASON STATHAM: Isn’t that funny you should say that? I saw Harvey the other week and he was talking to me about that.

Q: Michael Sloan created it.

JASON STATHAM: It’s a great one.

Q: He thinks you’re good.

JASON STATHAM: That is one of them actually.

Q: Do you follow American football and do you have any Super Bowl pick?

JASON STATHAM: You know what? I haven’t really had enough time to get busy with that, you know. One day. [pretends to throw a ball] Every time you see me throw one of them balls, people go ‘Whoa! He’s English, isn’t he?’ Because it goes like this [throws a crooked ball], instead of this [throws a straight ball]. That’s a hard one to catch.

“The Bank Job ” opens in theaters on March 7^th.

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