9 Bad Actors Who Have Recently Given Oscar Worthy Performances

5) Jason Statham – Spy

Another oft-derided actor, another unexpected comedy volte-face. They may still be months away from deciding who gets what Oscar nominations this year, but you can leave Jason Statham out of the running right now, even if he, like Zac Efron, showed off unforeseen comedy chops in Spy that saw him walking away with the entire movie.

Jason Statham isn’t what you would call an ‘actor with range,’ unless you consider an array of (admittedly impressive) fighting skills the mark of a great chameleon. He can’t even change accent, never mind performance style; it’s gotten to the point where Hollywood has just stopped trying to explain why Statham’s ostensibly American characters all speak like they’re from Wapping.

In Spy, Statham is arguably no different than usual. Only this time, the tough guy persona is played for laughs, and in the process of dialling his aggressive charisma up to 11 and beyond, Statham becomes some kind of comedy genius, spitting lines like, “Nothing kills me, I’m immune to 179 different types of poison,” as though this is the kind of thing he should have been doing all his acting life.