LAS VEGAS – Jason Statham may play a tough guy in the movies, but he's putty in the hands of Melissa McCarthy.
“It's really difficult [not to break when you're acting in a scene with her], because she's so good at what she does,” Statham told us of his “Spy” co-star at CinemaCon. “…It's really hard if you're not skilled at that. So I'll be bursting out laughing, and then she'd get the giggles. And, you know, it's just one of those infectious sort of cycles. It creates a bit of a problem. And then Paul's laughing, and then we have to have a two minute break…out of 50 takes, let's say you do 50 takes in a day, 48 are corrupted.”
The upcoming action-comedy sees Statham playing inept CIA agent Rick Ford, a character that allowed him to “take the piss out of” the action-star persona he's honed in films from Guy Ritchie's “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” to “Fast and Furious 7.”
Check out the full interview in the video above.
“Spy” hits theaters on June 5.