Jason Statham has had so many action-movie credits that he is now borderline typecast for such roles, and for good reason. Statham has the build of an Olympic-level athlete, and something about his exotic accent gives him that "I mean business" vibe. 

Having starred in so many high-budget action titles and doing so much of the on-camera stunts himself, Statham is no stranger to on-set injuries. However, there was one accident on the sets of The Expendables 3 that really stands out. 

Jason Statham Almost Died 

Statham, 54, almost drowned in the Black Sea in Varna, Bulgaria, while preparing for a stunt scene for The Expendables 3 back in 2013. The stunt involved Statham driving a truck along the coast, but unfortunately, because of some technical malfunction, the brakes on the truck failed. 

The actor crashed into two cameramen, a wall, and eventually ended up underwater. He tried to get out of the vehicle that was about five to ten meters from the surface through an open window when a possibly life-threatening mishap happened. 

His gun holster was stuck. Naturally, Statham panicked. Thankfully, Statham was no stranger to being underwater. 

Statham is a former diver who even competed for England at the Commonwealth Games in 1990, and so he was able to expertly find his way to the surface. 

Terry Crews Revisited the Incident

“He gets out, swims to the top, and the truck is gone,” co-star Terry Crews later spoke of the incident on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Crews also expounded on how real-life was different from what happened in action flicks.

“In your mind, you have an action film where you’re like, ‘If that happens, I’m going to grab the truck, I’m going to do all this stuff,’” Crews recalled. However, when push came to shove, Crews couldn't do much except for calling out Statham. 

Crews also had a newfound respect for his co-star that survived what could have been a fatal incident. He recalled how other members of the crew, including himself, were supposed to be on that truck but weren't. 

Jason Statham Appreciated Life After the Accident

As for Statham, he later described the accident as a "nasty, nasty experience," which had a significant impact on how he saw life. He added, 

It’s a real recalibration of everything. From that day on, I’ve been so appreciative of life and being able to walk on the ground. I think we all need [an experience] like that; one that puts things in perspective.

When the film finally premiered in 2014, action legend Sylvester Stallone outright announced that if it had been anyone other than Statham on that truck, they would have been dead as all the cast members were wearing heavy boots and gun belts. 

"But because Jason is an Olympic-quality diver he got out of it,” Stallone added. 

Apart from Statham, Crews, and Stallone, the star-studded cast of The Expendables 3 includes action-movie veterans like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, and Mel Gibson.

The film followed the two successful prior Expendables films, which brought in $103 million and $85 million at the box office, respectively.