Actors Jason Statham and Sandra Bullock are celebrating their birthdays today.
Jason Statham, 47
image courtesy of INFphoto.com
Actor, producer, martial artist and former diver Jason Statham turns 47 today. In 1998, Statham made his film debut in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The movie was well received by both critics and audiences, and helped turn him into a household name. He then went on to appear in the 2000 film Snatch, alongside Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina and Benicio del Toro, and with the movie earning more than $80 million in box-office revenue. He then went on to appear in Ghosts of Mars and The One in 2001.
Statham was offered more film roles, and in 2002 he was cast as the lead role of driver Frank Martin in the action movie The Transporter, in which he was responsible for his own stunts. He has studied Wing Chun kung fu, karate, and kickboxing. He reprised his role for the two sequels, Transporter 2 and Transporter 3. He also played supporting roles in Mean Machine, The Italian Job and Cellular, in which he played the lead villain.
In 2010, Statham appeared alongside fellow action stars Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li and Mickey Rourke, among others in The Expendables. In 2011, Statham starred in the remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson film, The Mechanic, and returned to British film in the police drama Blitz.
In 2012, Statham appeared in The Expendables 2 and Safe. He had a cameo in Fast & Furious 6, and may portray the main antagonist of Fast and Furious 7.
Statham is currently in a relationship with model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
Sandra Bullock, 50
image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com
Actress and producer Sandra Bullock turns 50 today. She rose to fame in the 1990s with roles in films such as Demolition Ma, Speed, While You Were Sleeping, A Time to Kill and Hope Floats.
In 2009, Bullock starred in two of the more financially successful films of her career, The Proposal and The Blind Side, the latter earning her the BFCA Award, SAG Award, Golden Globe Award, and the Academy Award. In 2011, Bullock starred in the drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close alongside Tom Hanks, a film adaptation based on the novel of the same name.
In 2013, she starred in The Heat, alongside Melissa McCarthy, and the science fiction thriller Gravity. As one of the highest grossing films of the year, Gravity is Bullock's most successful film critically and commercially. Bullock was nominated a second time for the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with the BFCA, Golden Globe and SAG awards and also received her first BAFTA nomination for her role.
Bullock adopted her son, Louis Bardo Bullock, from New Orleans, in 2010.