YetSpysees you in your first outright comedy role.

Theres nothing ironic about it, either: a straight character, with loads of funny moments.

How was it pitched to you, and why pick this one?

You must have been offered comedy before.

Yeah, as you know, Im always apprehensive to look like an idiot!

Some comedies, they want you falling on your face and doing silly things.

He wanted to do a sophisticated spy thriller.

The situations that would be happening in the story would be funny.

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I thought how do I be funny?

And he said dont take a stab at be funny.

Well just have you playing a straight character, and the funny stuff will come.

Or My Mom Will Shoot.

Thats the old way comedy was pigeonholed, to play it against jot down.

Were you offered material like that, and were you especially wary of the genre?

I never really been offered the right sort of thing.

I think of Paul Feig as the Scorsese of comedy.

Hes the best at what he does.

I think people just trust everything that hes got to say.

If youre good at what you do, people keep wanting to work with you.

Youre in good hands.

And I think once you know youre in good hands, you could really go to town with it.

And, you know, theres no restrictions.

The bigger, the more ludicrous, the more intense, the better it is!

Its your latest great post-credits scene we get here too.

[Laughs]

Did you know, without spoiling anything, that it was being left in as was?

Little hidden things, and theres the scene at the end.

You just go with it.

The whole process of him directing goes that way.

Everythings on a Post-it note, theres new stuff coming in, shes improvising.

Its like organized chaos!

I have, have, have to ask aboutCrank 3.

And how is the adaptation ofViva La Madnessgoing?

Viva La Madnesswere doing, 100 percent.

Thats definitely in the works.

Im very, very excited about that.

Thats something that, the last few years, Ive been trying to get everything in place.

Were going to be shooting that next year.

I wont say too much more about that.

The only reason Im in [Spy] is because ofCrank 1.

Pauls a big fan of that, so Ive got a lot of thanks for being in that film!

We ask everyone who we interview what their favorite Jason Statham film is, andCrankis the clear winner.

Although it turns out that Sir Kenneth Branagh is aTransporterfan.

[Grins] Who knew?!

What next, then?Fast & Furious 8?Viva La Madness?

Or is there something else lined up?

TheresFast 8, they want to do another one.Vivais something that I cant take my head out of.

The quality of the writing, J.J. Connelly is exceptional at what he does.

The voices that he gives are just brilliant.

To me, it depends what Universal are doing, when they want to do.

I want to do that.

AndVivais the passion project that Im very, very keen to do.

Jason Statham, thank you very much.