Eric Bana Biography

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Eric Bana has a Croatian and German background. With a strong urge to entertain from an early age, he landed a job as a bartender at a hotel, where he also started performing on stage as a comedian. After several years on the comedy circuit, he was invited to work on a top-rated comedy show called Full Frontal in 1993.

He continued to work on the show for the next three years, and by the end his ability to impersonate famous personalities labelled him as one of Australia's best-known comedians. Using the experience, Bana left the show to write, produce and star in his own series entitled Eric. This was soon followed by a weekly special, first called Eric, then The Eric Ban Show Live in 1997.

The year 1997 also marked his film debut in the popular comedy, The Castle. Three years later, he took the lead role in the drama film, Chopper. To play the lead character, Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a murder sentence in prison, Bana had to gain 30 pounds and go through hours of makeup daily to put on the many tattoos that covered Mark Read's body. Bana's extensive research and hard work paid off though, when he received three awards from the Australian Film Critics Circle, Australian Film Institute and Stockholm Film Festival, all for Best Actor.

Using this success, Bana continued to work hard into the 21st century with another Australian series, Something in the Air, and starring roles in three feature films including The Nugget (2002) and his first American films, Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001) and The Hulk (2003) playing the lead role of Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk.

Since then, he's become one of Hollywood's favorite leading men, with roles in major motion pictures such as Star Trek (2009), The Time Traveler's Wife (2009), Hanna (2011) and Deadfall (2012).

Some of his most recent works include Deliver Us From Evil (2014), Lone Survivor (2014), The Finest Hours (2016) and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017).

Filmography:

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
The Secret Scripture (2016)
Special Correspondents (2016)
The Finest Hours (2016)
Deliver Us From Evil (2014)
Lone Survivor (2014)
Closed Circuit (2013)
Deadfall (2012)
Hanna (2011)
The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
Funny People (2009)
Star Trek (2009)
Mary and Max (2009) voice
The Other Boleyn Girl(2008)
Romulus, My Father (2007)
Lucky You (2007)
Munich (2005)
Troy (2004)
Hulk (2003)
Finding Nemo (2003) voice
Black Hawk Down (2001)