Eric Bana

Full Name: Eric Banadinovich
Stage Name: Eric Bana
Date of Birth: August 9, 1968
Place of Birth: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Profession: Actor
Marital Status: Married to publicist Rebecca Gleeson since 1997
Family: Parents Ivan and Eleanor Banadinovich, one older brother. Children Klaus (born 1999) and Sophia (born 2002), both with Rebecca.
Claim to Fame: His portrayal of Bruce Banner/The Hulk in the 2003-movie “Hulk”.

Biography:

Eric Bana (born Eric Banadinovich) was welcomed to the world on August 9, 1968, in Melbourne, Australia, as the younger of two brothers. His father, named Ivan Banadinovic, came from Zagreb, Croatia and worked for Caterpiller Inc and raised racing dogs. His mother, named Eleanor Banadinovich, came from a German family and was a hairdresser.

Acting, Bana says, was never on his radar when he was a kid. In the working-class suburb of Melbourne, the closest thing to a cultural landmark was the airport. There was no theater, no museum, nothing. He wanted to drop out of school when he was just 15 years old to apprentice as a mechanic (he’s obsessed with cars), but his father wouldn’t allow it. Bana compromised: He stayed in school, but he didn’t do much homework. The feeling of never being prepared for class—“a real, solid, deep-rooted feeling of failure, of not having done what you were meant to do”—hung over his entire childhood, says Eric himself.

Despite his disinterest in school, he hugely admired one English teacher. One day she assigned an oral book report. “So I watch the video of Christine, by Stephen King, instead,” Bana recalls. “Since I’m a car guy, it was a match made in heaven. I write a few notes in alphabetical order, and up I get to present my book report. I finish, and my teacher gets up and says, ‘Thank you.’ And I’m feeling pretty dirty, feeling pretty guilty, because I loved this teacher. I mean, she was as good as they get. And she says, ‘In my twenty years of teaching, I’ve heard hundreds of book reports. And Eric, you need to know that this is without a doubt the best oral book report I’ve ever heard. I’m giving you 10 out of 10.’ It was a moment of such joy for a student who was so used to failing or just getting by. Pure joy that I might have a skill in bullshitting and that there might be something legitimate within the storytelling world that somehow fitted with me. At the same time, there was such an incredible, overwhelming feeling of guilt.”

Bana didn’t know until his midtwenties that he was going to be a comedian. After graduating from high school and embarking on an impressively varied series of dead-end jobs (among other things, he hauled cargo on the Melbourne docks, cleaned up glasses at a nightclub, and steam-cleaned carpets), he awoke to his prospects one night when a coworker dragged him to a comedy club. “One of the performers was pretty good, and the rest were just lousy, and my friend said, ‘Three of the six people you saw tonight are making a living doing this.’ I’d thought everyone was as good as Richard Pryor. I went, ‘What am I doing picking up glasses?’ ”

In 1993 he began his TV career on “Full Frontal”, Australia’s answer to “SNL”, playing mostly Phil Hartman–type roles: newscasters, pitchmen, coaches. After four seasons, Bana was given his own show — “Eric” — to staff, cast, and write. “We’d come up with a few different names, but the network decided on that one,” he says. “To this day, I’ve never felt more pressure.”

Despite some sources claiming otherwise, Eric has never studied his craft. “The IMDb says I went to Australia’s prestigious drama academy, NIDA. I’ve asked them, but they won’t take it off the site!” On why he never attended a drama school he says “I know enough about what they teach in a lot of those schools to know that those approaches wouldn’t be right for me. I never wanted to shroud acting in mystery.”

His international break came with “Chopper” in 2000 where he portrayed the psychopath Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read. To prepare for the part as the man who allegedly murdered nineteen people in Melbourne during the ’70s and ’80s, Bana put on thirty pounds and spent a week on Read’s Tasmanian farm with the man himself. Eric was praised for his fantastic portrayal and after the movie premiered at the American Sundance Film Festival in 2001 everybody was talking about this “new” talent. For his performance in “Chopper”, Bana won Best Actor Awards from the Australian Film Critics Circle and the Australian Film Institute.

The next project for Eric was the Ridley Scott-directed war drama about the near-disastrous mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993; “Black Hawk Down”. Bana starred as Hoot, alongside big stars such as Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett, Ioan Gruffudd, Sam Shepard and Orlando Bloom. The movie won 2 Oscars for Best Editing and Best Sound.

The following year, Eric starred in the Australian comedy “The Nugget”. He reportedly turned down the lead role in the hit-movie “xXx” (which was later given to Vin Diesel) to star in “The Nugget” instead.

In 2003, Bana starred in what should’ve been his big breakthrough – Ang Lee’s “Hulk”. Despite it being a very high profile-movie with a big budget and a great cast (Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Josh Lucas and Nick Nolte) it wasn’t quite the success everyone expected it to be. According to Bana, Ang Lee gave him virtually no direction and put him through as many as 140 takes of several scenes. The process emptied Bana out and the deeper into shooting they got, the less he understood the character he was playing. When describing what it’s like to do 140 takes of the same scene Eric says “Shithouse, you know? It’s no different from running until you can’t run anymore. There’s nothing that interesting at the end—besides someone who doesn’t really know what he’s doing.” About the on-set environment Eric says “Humor and irony were not welcome, and at that stage in my career, I don’t think anyone would have listened to me.”

The same year, Eric had a small part as the fish Anchor in the incredibly successful animated family movie “Finding Nemo”.

Next for Eric was the blockbuster “Troy” opposite Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Diane Kruger, Saffron Burrows, Brendan Gleeson, Brian Cox and Peter O’Toole. He played the warrior Hector, the older brother to Bloom’s Paris. Set in Ancient Greece, the movie’s about two emerging nations begin to clash after Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband King Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. So they set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy. With the help of Achilles, the Greeks are able to fight the never before defeated Trojans. But they come to a stop by Hector, Prince of Troy.

With the following year, 2005, came Steven Spielberg’s controversial and critically acclaimed drama “Munich”. Bana earned widespread praise for his multilayered portrayal of Avner, the Israeli agent chosen to lead an elite squad that has been ordered to track down and kill the men responsible for the terrorist attack that ended with the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. About working with Spielberg, Eric said “I don’t know if there is, I certainly haven’t met one, a director who’s more reactionary to what’s occuring in front of him. He’s the purest definition, I think, of an ‘actor’s director’. He’s all about supporting you and your co-stars’ performances. He reacts to every single thing, he doesn’t miss anything that you’re doing, he will change shots, change scenes, change sequences based on things that are happening in front of him that’s different to how he envisioned it. That’s to me what’s so exciting.” The movie earned 5 Oscar-nominations, with Best Movie and Best Direction being two of them.

After finishing “Munich”, Eric took some time off to spend with his family, only to return with two feature films in 2007. One of them was the critically acclaimed Australian “Romulus, My Father”. On why Eric took on the role of Romulus he says “As a son and a father, this story resonated with me to such an extent that I felt naturally compelled to take on the role of Romulus”. The story centers around Raimond, a boy who’s trying to balance a universe described by his deeply moral father against the experience of heartbreaking absence and neglect from a depressive mother. It is, ultimately, a story of impossible love that celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son. It involves issues dealing with mental illness during a time when there was little knowledge of treatments, when the treatments that did exist were archaic, struggle as immigrants in a new country, family and extended family and love for a father, all seen from the point of view of a young boy. The movie earned both Eric Bana and co-star Kodi Smit-McPhee awards at the 2007 AFI Awards in, of course, Australia.

The other movie, also released in 2007, was the poker-drama “Lucky You”, co-starring Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall and Debra Messing, in which he starred as the poker player Huck Cheever. “Like Huck, Eric Bana is a blaster; he came at his part full out. During the rehearsal period, he not only worked on his scenes but immersed himself in learning the game of poker. He is a true chameleon. Unlike many actors who twist characters to fit their own personalities and characteristics, I think Eric looks at each part as an opportunity to truly become someone else”, director Curtis Hanson said about Eric.

This year Eric has two high-profile-movies coming out. On February 29th, “The Other Boleyn Girl” hits American theaters. The movie, in which Eric stars opposite talented actresses Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, centers around the two Boleyn sisters, Anne and Mary, who are competing for the affection of King Henry VIII (played by Bana). Eric was reportedly thrilled over the chance to star with Natalie since he’s a big fan of her. “Natalie was the first onboard, so when the project came to me I already knew that she was playing Anne. I was particularly excited because I’ve been a big fan of hers for a long time. She’s really incredible. Then Scarlett came onboard and it made so much sense that she’d been cast as Mary. With the two of them together it was just going to be incredible.” The movie premiered at the 2008 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, to mixed reviews.

In the fall/winter of 2008, we will see another dramatic performance by Eric. This time in “The Time Traveler’s Wife”, co-starring Rachel McAdams. “It was an amazing experience, and Robert Schwentke I think will do an amazing job putting it together. Rachel McAdams, I think is about as good as it gets for me in terms of working with someone. She was incredible. I think we’re really interesting together. I think it will be an interesting film. I hope it will be special.” Eric says of the movie.

His upcoming films also include the highly anticipated “Star Trek”-movie, directed by J.J. Abrams, and the crime drama “Factor X”, opposite Terrence Howard.

Despite being known for his serious roles, Eric still has the comedy in him. “I really loved working with Eric. He’s very funny actually, I didn’t expect him to be so funny. He always plays such serious characters so I didn’t realize he was a stand-up comedian before he started this crazy job being a dramatic actor.” Scarlett Johansson said in an interview while promoting “The Other Boleyn Girl”. Bana does still fantasize about making a return to stand-up comedy. “As I’ve moved on with my life,” he says, “I have thought, How capable would I be of coming up with another half hour or twenty minutes or hour? Then I had a very sobering moment when I watched Jerry Seinfeld’s documentary ‘Comedian’. I just went, ‘I’m kidding myself.’ Because you’d have to take twelve to eighteen months out of circulation.”

In 1995 he began dating Rebecca Gleeson, a publicist and daughter of Australian High Court Chief Justice, Murray Gleeson. The following year he was named “Bachelor of the Year” by the Australian magazine Cleo, and won a trip for two to the United States. He invited Rebecca, and proposed to her during that romantic trip. By 1997 the two were married and two years after, their son, Klaus, was born. In 2002 they welcomed a daughter, Sophia.

Eric still lives with his family in in Melbourne, fifteen hours away from Hollywood by plane. “Living away from Hollywood is a big advantage. You can be so impinged in this town by physical beauty, by things that aren’t real, by paranoia and insecurity, that it can alter your mind.”

Information was collected from various articles and interviews.
The biography’s written by Filip, February 2008. Please don’t re-post without permission.