Dion Dublin reveals he lived with Jason Statham at 17 and would love a Hollywood career

Dion Dublin has revealed he shared a home with future Hollywood action star Jason Statham as a 17-year-old youth player at Norwich City, describing the future Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels star as “a very nice, very fun guy” who was a world apart from the hard-man roles that would later define his career.

Speaking in a new interview, Dublin explained that the connection came through his brother, a DJ in Great Yarmouth who played in a band with Statham. “Jason Statham was best friends with my brother, who was a DJ in Great Yarmouth when I was a young player at Norwich City, so I lived with him,” Dublin said. “Jason played the drums. My brother played bass, too, so they played in a band together. I was a 17-year-old boy who would go and watch their band then I’d go watch my brother’s DJ sets with Jason, then me and J would go out after. It was good fun. Very chilled out.”

Statham, two years Dublin’s senior, went on to become one of Hollywood’s most recognisable faces through films including The Transporter, Snatch and the Fast & Furious franchise. But Dublin remembers a very different side to his former flatmate, including an athletic background that foreshadowed the physicality of his screen persona. “He used to be a high board diver for Great Britain, too, and there was a big leisure complex on the sea front at Great Yarmouth so J used to go down sometimes and do his practice on the high board in the pool down there,” Dublin said. “His dad was a singer too. His brother Lee used to work on the markets as well. Jason used to work on the markets with him too so he’s done everything. I think he’s deserved everything he’s achieved.”

The two have since lost touch. “I’ve not spoken to him for years,” Dublin admitted, though he spoke warmly of the time they shared.

While Dublin’s own path took him from Cambridge United in 1988 to the Premier League with Manchester United and a lengthy spell at Aston Villa, he has not ruled out following Statham into the entertainment world — albeit with a degree of self-awareness. Asked whether he would consider a move to Hollywood, Dublin said: “The property is too expensive! I’d love to go out there and give it a go though. Imagine that. Dion Dublin, action hero! I suppose I’ve tried everything else, haven’t I? I’d throw my hat in the ring for that if they’d give us a job.”