- Jason Statham plays a homeless war veteran in 'Hummingbird'
- He jokes that he had '40 years of prep' for his drunken scenes
- The role is a change of pace for the 45-year-old actor
(CNN) -- Jason Statham has joked that he's had "40 years of prep" to portray a drunk man in his newest film.
The British actor stars as Joey Jones in "Hummingbird" - a thriller that tells the story of a homeless war veteran trying to get his life back together on the streets of London.
Statham does a lot of drunken acting in "Hummingbird," and has joked about how he got himself into the mindset of his character before portraying him.
"40 years of prep I've had on that one mate!" he laughed in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian. "No, it's hard because you can't be drunk ... But you have an idea. You have to have a certain kind of confidence in that uncharted territory."
Statham is famed for his tough guy roles in films including "Revolver," "Snatch," "The Expendables" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."
The 45-year-old found his "Hummingbird" role to be a refreshing change in comparison to his other big screen parts.
"It's so different to what I normally do. A lot of the characters I've played before are heroic or invincible in some ways, and not tuned into fear and anxiety and pain," he explained. "This wasn't so radically different that I'd fall flat on my face. I felt it still played to some of my strengths and wasn't light years away from a character I thought I could get my shoes on with."
