Jason Statham joked that he dug his “own hole” by doing stunts in an early movie – and now is always expected to do the action scenes himself.

The British cult actor’s star is on the rise in the US, after many years doing small budget films such as The Transporter series.

He plays a lead role in The Mechanic, a remake of the Charles Bronson 1970s film, on the back of starring alongside Sylvester Stallone in last year’s hit The Expendables.

But the martial arts expert says he is still burdened by his own range of skills after trying to lighten the load in his earlier movies.

Asked about still doing many of his own stunts, he said: “I sort of dug my own hole with that, if you like.

“On one of the first action films I did we didn’t sort of have any financial reserves… to do green screens or any sort of enhancement to the stunts, so I ended up doing my own stunts.

“So now there’s an expectation that I can’t seem to get away from.”

Asked about his rise to fame from an unusual past, which included working as a street salesman, he told CBS’ The Early Show: “It’s a strange world… it can happen to anybody I suppose!”