Not everyone needs to be a method actor (we don’t have to get into that now) but it’s assumed that most actors have at least some inkling of how to do whatever job they are pretending to do. In Jason Statham’s case, the man signed on as the titular keeper of the bees in The Beekeeper, and subsequently began beekeeping. Now he’s in it for the long haul.
Director David Ayer confirmed that the bee stunts were legit, and Statham got really into beekeeping to prepare for the role. “In the opening, Jason’s pulling out the comb, and smoking the hive, and doing all the processes. That’s real. The bees are real. He learned how to do all of that,” Ayer recently told EW. “It’s interesting, because we see him as this rough punch-up guy, and yet he got the zen of it — he really embraced the zen of beekeeping.” There is something particularly menacing about hundreds of tiny flying beings with razor-sharp butts out to get you. But for Statham, it’s real. And he welcomes it!
Even though The Beekeeper really does have bees, their presence is more of a metaphor, Ayer explained. “The idea of The Beekeeper is that there’s this secret society that monitors what’s going on in our societies and then can step in and intervene when the system can’t take care of itself.” And when the system can’t take care of itself, Statham arrives.
It seems like the bees trusted Statham, as he did not get stung, unlike the rest of the crew. “Jason did not get stung,” Ayer continued. “I got stung a bunch of times because I was operating camera, getting all these tight shots of bees, the hero bee-shots, and I was wearing black socks. I learned that bees will attack black cloth because they think that it’s a bear. [Laughs] And so that’s why the beekeepers wear these white suits.”
Of course, if he really was committed to his work, Statham would use this approach with all of his projects. Why didn’t he volunteer to swim with sharks while filming Meg 2? That would really show us.
The Beekeeper is in theaters now.
(Via EW)
