Eric Bana is an Australian film and television actor. He began his career as a comedian in the sketch comedy series Full Frontal before gaining critical recognition in the biopic Chopper (2000). After a decade of roles in Australian TV shows and films, Bana gained Hollywood’s attention by playing the role of American Delta Force Sergeant Norm “Hoot” Hooten in Black Hawk Down (2001), the lead role as Bruce Banner in the Ang Lee directed film Hulk (2003), Prince Hector in the movie Troy (2004), the lead in Steven Spielberg’s Munich (2005), and the villain Nero in the science-fiction film Star Trek (2009).
An accomplished dramatic actor and comedian, he received Australia’s highest film and television awards for his performances in Chopper, Full Frontal and Romulus, My Father. Bana performs predominantly in leading roles in a variety of low-budget and major studio films, ranging from romantic comedies and drama to science fiction and action thrillers.
Eric Bana was the younger of two children; he has a brother, Anthony. He is of Croatian ancestry on his father’s side. Bana’s paternal grandfather, Mate Banadinović, fled to Argentina after the Second World War, and Bana’s paternal grandmother emigrated to Germany and then to Australia in the 1950s with her son, Ivan (Bana’s father). His father was a logistics manager for Caterpillar, Inc., and his German-born mother, Eleanor, was a hairdresser. Bana grew up in Melbourne’s Tullamarine, a suburban area on the western edge of the city, near the main airport. In a cover story for The Mail on Sunday, he told author Antonella Gambotto-Burke that his family had suffered from racist taunts, and that it had distressed him. “Wog is such a terrible word,” he said. He has stated: “I have always been proud of my origin, which had a big influence on my upbringing. I have always been in the company of people of European origin”.
Showing acting skill early in life, Bana began doing impressions of family members at the age of six or seven, first mimicking his grandfather’s walk, voice and mannerisms. In school, he mimicked his teachers as a means to get out of trouble. As a teen, he watched the Mel Gibson film Mad Max (1979), and decided he wanted to become an actor. However, he did not seriously consider a career in the performing arts until 1991 when he was persuaded to try stand-up comedy while working as a barman at Melbourne’s Castle Hotel. His stand-up gigs in inner-city pubs did not provide him with enough income to support himself, so he continued his work as a barman and bussing tables.
Eric Bana Biography / Wiki
| Name | Eric Bana |
| Also Know | Eric Banadinovich, Ðрик Бана, ΈÏικ Μπάνα, ì—ë¦ ë°”ë‚˜ |
| Gender | Male |
| Known For | Acting |
| Place of Birth | Melbourne, Australia |
| Date of Birth | August 09, 1968 |
| Age(as in 2023 Feb) | 54 |
| Deathday |
Eric Bana Acting Movies
| Movie Name | Character | Release Date | Overview |
| Munich | Avner | 2005-12-23 | During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black Septem… |
| Lucky You | Huck Cheever | 2007-05-01 | A professional poker player whose astounding luck at the table fails to translate into his lonesome love life attempts to win the World Series of Poke… |
| Love the Beast | Himself | 2009-03-12 | What if you were a Hollywood movie star with an obsession for cars and racing? Eric Bana is such a star!… |
| The Nugget | Lotto | 2002-10-17 | ‘The Nugget’ looks at how instant wealth suddenly changes the lives of three working class men – not necessarily for the better, but always with hilar… |
| The Time Traveler’s Wife | Henry DeTamble | 2009-08-14 | Due to a genetic disorder, handsome librarian Henry DeTamble involuntarily zips through time, appearing at various moments in the life of his true lov… |
| Chopper | Mark Brandon ‘Chopper’ Read | 2000-06-21 | The true and infamous story of Australia’s notorious criminal Mark ‘Chopper’ Read and his years of crime, interest in violence, drugs and prostitutes…. |
| Romulus, My Father | Romulus | 2007-05-31 | The story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. It is a story o… |
| Deadfall | Addison | 2012-11-08 | A thriller that follows two siblings who decide to fend for themselves in the wake of a botched casino heist, and their unlikely reunion during anothe… |
| Closed Circuit | Martin Rose | 2013-08-28 | A terrorist attack in London results in the capture of suspect, and the attorney general appoints Claudia Simmons-Howe as special advocate on his defe… |
| Translating History to Screen | Himself | 2008-06-10 | Translating History to Screen (2008) Video Short – 10 June 2008 (USA)… |
| Deliver Us from Evil | Ralph Sarchie | 2014-07-01 | When a frightening wave of violence sweeps through New York City, troubled cop Sarchie fails to find a rational explanation for the bizarre crimes. Ho… |
| Hulk | Bruce Banner / Hulk | 2003-06-19 | Bruce Banner, a genetics researcher with a tragic past, suffers massive radiation exposure in his laboratory that causes him to transform into a ragin… |
| Great Barrier Reef | Narrator | 2018-06-29 | What comes to mind when you think of the largest structure built by living creatures? China’s sprawling Great Wall? Or maybe the skyscrapers of New Yo… |
| The Dry | Aaron Falk | 2020-12-11 | Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken hometown to attend a tragic funeral. But his return opens a decades-old wound – the unsolved death of a tee… |
| Finke: There & Back | Narrator (voice) | 2018-06-30 | The iconic Finke Desert Race, the largest off-road motorsport event in the southern hemisphere and Australia’s fastest, deadliest, toughest and certai… |
| Envoy: Shark Cull | (narrator) | 2021-07-21 | Envoy: Shark Cull is a fascinating, deeply moving documentary narrated by Eric Bana, which sheds light on the real story behind the coastal ‘shark s… |
| Force of Nature | Aaron Falk | Based on Jane Harper’s novel series. Sequel to ‘The Dry’. Five women hitch-hike along a muddy track. Only four come out the other side. Federal Police… | |
| Making Mary and Max | 2009-10-21 | The behind-the-scenes film for the production of Mary and Max…. | |
| Berlin Nobody | Ben Monroe | American social psychologist, Ben Monroe investigates a local cult connected to a disturbing event. While he immerses himself into his work, his rebel… | |
| Tempest at the Drop-In | Narrator (voice) | 2013-10-08 | Tempest at the Drop-In follows mentally ill and socially isolated members of the community as they stage a professional production of Shakespeare’s Th… |
| Hanna | Erik Heller | 2011-04-07 | Raised by her father, an ex-CIA agent, in the wilds of Finland, Hanna’s upbringing has been geared to making her the perfect assassin. Sent into the w… |
| Special Correspondents | Frank Bonneville | 2016-04-22 | A radio journalist and his technician get in over their heads when they hatch a scheme to fake their own kidnapping during a rebel uprising in South A… |
| The Forgiven | Piet Blomfeld | 2018-03-09 | After the end of Apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu meets with a brutal murderer seeking redemption…. |
| Blueback | Mad Macka | 2022-12-29 | Based on the best-selling novel by Tim Winton, Blueback is a timely tale about the ocean, a beautiful marine creature, and a young girl’s power to c… |
| Troy | Hector | 2004-05-03 | In year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age, two emerging nations begin to clash. Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leav… |
| Black Hawk Down | Sfc. Norm ‘Hoot’ Hooten | 2001-12-28 | When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and … |
| Mary and Max | Damien (voice) | 2009-02-09 | A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year… |
| The Other Boleyn Girl | Henry Tudor | 2008-02-28 | A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sister… |
| Back to the Outback | Chaz (voice) | 2021-12-03 | Tired of being locked in a reptile house where humans gawk at them like they are monsters, a ragtag group of Australia’s deadliest creatures plot an… |
| Funny People | Clarke | 2009-07-30 | Famous and wealthy funnyman George Simmons doesn’t give much thought to how he treats people until a doctor delivers stunning health news, forcing Geo… |
| Star Trek | Nero | 2009-05-06 | The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a Vulcan… |
| The Secret Scripture | Dr. William Grene | 2017-03-23 | The hidden memoir of an elderly woman confined to a mental hospital reveals the history of her passionate yet tortured life, and of the religious and … |
| The Finest Hours | Daniel Cluff | 2016-01-27 | The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952…. |
| Lone Survivor | Lieutenant Commander Erik Kristensen | 2013-12-24 | Four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative must make an impossible moral decision in the mountains of Afghanista… |
| King Arthur: Legend of the Sword | Uther | 2017-05-10 | When the child Arthur’s father is murdered, Vortigern, Arthur’s uncle, seizes the crown. Robbed of his birthright and with no idea who he truly is… |
| Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers | Monterey Jack (voice) | 2022-05-20 | Decades since their successful television series was canceled, Chip has succumbed to a life of suburban domesticity as an insurance salesman. Dale, me… |
| The Castle | Con Petropoulous | 1997-04-10 | A Melbourne family is very happy living near the Melbourne airport. However, they are forced to leave their beloved home (by the Government and airpor… |
| Being James Bond | (archive footage) | 2021-08-29 | Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming… |
| Finding Nemo | Anchor (voice) | 2003-05-30 | Nemo, an adventurous young clownfish, is unexpectedly taken from his Great Barrier Reef home to a dentist’s office aquarium. It’s up to his worrisome … |
| Spielberg | Self | 2017-10-05 | A documentary on the life and career of one of the most influential film directors of all time, Steven Spielberg…. |
Eric Bana Directing Movies
| Movie Name | Job | Release Date | Overview |
| Love the Beast | Director | 2009-03-12 | What if you were a Hollywood movie star with an obsession for cars and racing? Eric Bana is such a star!… |
Eric Bana Production Movies
| Movie Name | Job | Release Date | Overview |
| Paper Planes | Executive Producer | 2014-09-07 | Dylan discovers he has a talent for making paper planes. He has a chance to compete in a world championship, but he’ll have to face bullies and self-d… |
| The Dry | Executive Producer | 2020-12-11 | Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken hometown to attend a tragic funeral. But his return opens a decades-old wound – the unsolved death of a tee… |
| Romulus, My Father | Associate Producer | 2007-05-31 | The story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. It is a story o… |
| Force of Nature | Producer | Based on Jane Harper’s novel series. Sequel to ‘The Dry’. Five women hitch-hike along a muddy track. Only four come out the other side. Federal Police… | |
| Executive Producer | Anthology series in which each season is based on a true crime story featuring an epic tale of love gone wrong…. | ||
Credit: TMDB
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