Frank Martin lives by four simple rules:

1) Never change the deal

2) No names

3) Never open the package

4) Never make a promise you can’t keep

In Transporter 3, the deal is the same; highly skilled courier Martin, played by brooding beefcake Jason Statham, must deliver the precious cargo of an underworld denizen or reap the consequences, a job compromised by emotional complications.

“I think, in the third one, we found his weakness, and it all lies in love,” Statham says in his gravely Cockney. “[Love] upsets the apple cart. If you live a certain way, you have your rules, you’re protected and you’re safe. If you introduce something that comes with an emotional bag, you can’t function properly. When you have someone you care about deeply, it affects your mindset.”

While Frank prefers to keep names out of the equation, the Transporter series wouldn’t be what it is without the name Jason Statham attached.

“Jason has big charisma,” admires director Olivier Megaton, “just put the camera on him and film. [He’s] becoming the new Bruce Willis.”

“There’s something about the skin or the voice of an actor,” Transporter creator and the third installment’s writer, Luc Besson, adds. “You know within a minute if you feel good with an actor or not.”

His intuition about Statham has been both career making and life altering for the actor.

“Luc is ultimately responsible for the creation of Frank Martin and for me being in Hollywood right now. If it weren’t for Transporter 1, I don’t think I’d be in this position,” Statham admits, humbly. “It was the first movie I did where I played a leading part and certainly the first action movie I’d ever done.”

Transporter 3 releases in theaters Nov. 26.