Biography
Bana was born Eric Banadinovich in Melbourne, Australia to Ivan Banadinovich (a Croatian who worked for the Caterpillar Inc. tractor company) and Eleanor (a German-born hairdresser). He has an older brother, Anthony, who was born in 1965. Bana originally dreamed of becoming a car mechanic and tried his hand in odd jobs, including tending bar, where he also did stand-up comedy.
Career
Eric Bana began his career as a comedian, first coming to national attention in Australia in the comedy sketch series Full Frontal (1993-1997). Later, he was the star and/or anchor for two short-running TV shows; Eric (special 1996, series 1997), a sketch comedy show that he wrote, co-produced and starred in, and The Eric Bana Show Live (1997), a variety show. His most enduring character from his early career is "Poida", a typical Aussie male "bogan". Bana won the 'Most Popular Comedy Personality' at the 1997 Logies for his roles in Full Frontal.
Poster for the film "Chopper"
Aside from a small role in the Australian independent-hit The Castle (1997) in which he played a kickboxer, Bana disappeared from Australia's entertainment screens for several years, only to make a re-appearance in the gritty black biopic Chopper in 2000, about the infamous Australian underworld figure, Mark Brandon Read. Chopper garnered world-wide attention, and won three Australian Film Institute awards, including a "Best Actor" award for Bana.
After this, his international reputation grew, and he played a supporting role in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001), starred in the Australian comedy The Nugget (2002) and took the title role in Ang Lee's 2003 movie Hulk. He also played prince Hector in the epic Troy (2004) and starred as the leader of an Israeli hit squad in Steven Spielberg's controversial film Munich (2005). Bana will next be seen in Curtis Hanson's Lucky You. He has also signed on to star in Romulus, My Father, which is due out in 2006.but he could not be sure if he could return to his new 2007 movie Hulk 2.
Private life
In 1997, Bana married Rebecca Gleeson, a former publicist with the Seven Network (the home of the TV series "Full Frontal") and daughter of High Court Chief Justice Murray Gleeson. Together they have a son, Klaus (b. August 1999) and a daughter, Sophia (b. April 2002). His wife and son can be seen in the movie Black Hawk Down on a photo. At some point of the movie a US soldier (not Bana's character) is looking at a photo of his wife and child. The props department forgot to take an approriate photo with them and asked Bana's wife and child who were travelling with him if they could use a photo of them in the movie.
They reside in Melbourne, Australia. Bana is a motor racing enthusiast and often races in his home country. He is also a keen follower of Australian Rules Football. He supports the St Kilda Football Club.
Selected filmography
2008
Aussie King
Michael Hastings
unconfirmed
2008
The Steve Lawrence Story
Steve Lawrence
2007
Hulk 2
Bruce Banner
2027
Tom E. Kurtz
2007
3:10 TO YUMA
unknown
unconfirmed
2006
Romulus, My Father
Romulus
filming
2006
Lucky You
Huck Cheever
Post-Production
2005
Munich
Avner Kauffman
2004
Troy
Hector
2003
Hulk
Bruce Banner
2003
Finding Nemo
Anchor
voice
2002
The Nugget
Lotto
2001
Black Hawk Down
Hoot
2000
Something in the Air
Joe Sabatini
TV series
2000
Chopper
Mark Brandon Read
Australian Movie
1997
The Castle
Con Petropoulous
Australian Movie
1996
Eric
Various Characters
TV
1993
Full Frontal
Various Characters
TV
