| < | Prev | · | 1 | · | 2 | · | 3 | · | 4 | · | 5 | · | 6 | · | 7 | · | 8 | · | Next | > |
PlayGirl: Eric Bana, The Incredible Hulk
Top
Author Unknown
Provided By Mona
USA: Febuary 2003
Australia brings us another awesome man with Eric Bana. Born in 1968 to a German mother and a Croatian fater, he is one of Australia's most beloved comedians and starred in that country's TV comedy show Full Frontal.
He became known in the States for a little film with a big buzz, Chopper, based on a real-life Australian thug. Bana had to gain a lot of weight for the film and he reportedly told an Aussie newspaper that he ate donuts to fit the part.
"And I didn't go easy on it. I always had a good stock in the cupboard in the mornin' with the brekkie."
Eric's role also called for a very exposing scene.
"That was my Boogie Nights moment." he told Interview. "There was conjecture as to if it was min, but I won't elaborate."
An interesting scene, yes. But sexy? After the film's critical success, we began seeing more of Bana...or rather less. He emerged as his real self - at his regular weight - and we loved what we were seeing. A role in Black Hawk Down (2001) and The Hulk (2003) followed.
Cinescope magazine reported that a press conference for The Hulk, Bana said, "...I was a huge fan of the television show. And the thing I think that particularly attracted me to the character of the Hulk was the fact that he's a slightly reluctant superhero."
We hope Eric isn't a reluctant sex symbol.
Woman's Day: The Hulk? No, Just Dad!
Top
Author Unknown
Provided By Mona
Australia: July 2003
Proving that he's really a softy under all that mean, green box office success, The Hulk star Eric Bana enjoyed some fun in the sune with four-year-old son, Klaus.
The Australian actor was taking time out to play with his boy during a flying one, and wife Rebecca.
With a vocal part in the monster animated hit Finding Nemo and a starring role as Hector in the upcoming sword-and-sandals epic Troy, alongside Brad Pitt, the Meborune-born 34-year-old is hot property in Tinseltown right now.
It's good to see that though stardom has embraced Eric, he's still got plenty of time for his most treasured role - that of The Incredible Dad.
US Weekly:Papa Hulk
Top
Author Unknown
Provided By Mona
USA: July 28, 2003
Eric Bana studied son Klaus, four years old, for The Hulk.
"He was two and a half years old when we were shooting." he said.
"There's the Hulk - a boy going through the terrible twos."Age: 34 Height: 6'2" Hometown: Melborne, Australia
"I've probably seen every episode of the [The Incredible Hulk] TV show!" says Bana, a.k.a Bruce Banner, the scientist who, when angered morphs into the green giant. But it was the actor's role as a psycho-killer in 2000's Australian drama Chopper - along with his work in 2001's Black Hawk Down - that convinced Hulk director Ang Lee to cast Bana.
"I probably wouldn't have gotten the part if I had to audition," he humbly says.
Did you hear the one about the stand-up comic turned thespian? It's true! Bana even had an Aussie sketch comedy series (Eric 1996-1997) and until tow years ago.
"Here people say, 'You don't look funny', but [down under] they go, 'How do you get away with drama!'" he says.
Sorry: He's taken! Bana has been married for about six years to Rebecca, a former publicist at an Australian TV network. The couple live in Melbourne with their kids, Klaus, 4, and Sophia, 1.
In his next film, Troy - the Trojan War epic now filming in Malta - Bana (as the mythical Hetor) battles Brad Pitt (as Achilles).
"I haven't had this much fun since I was in school!"
Bana Sees Green
Top
Written By: Paul Fischer
Source: Girl.com.au
Provided By: Coe
Internet: 2003
Eric Bana is the latest Australian seeking Hollywood gold and The Hulk may well be his ticket to superstardom, but he'd still rather live in Melbourne. PAUL FISCHER reports.
Stage 12 at Universal Studios is a long way from Melbourne, but sitting in this soundstage, Aussie Eric Bana is feeling relaxed. Sporting a slight beard and longish hair for the epic film Troy, which he is in the middle of shooting, the 34-year old actor remains unconcerned at the level of stardom he may 
attain following the release of Hulk, this year's anticipated Ang Lee-directed take on the classically dark comic strip. "On the one hand, it just provides you with further great opportunities, professionally, which is what we all dream of. To me, the greatest part of it is having choice and being able to find great roles like the one I'm shooting right now. Personally it really doesn't have much of an effect because I still live home in Melbourne and as you know I've been recognized at home a long time and they're probably sick of the sight of me so I'm easily able to lead a very normal existence in Australia."
In Hulk, Bana plays scientist Bruce Banner, experimented upon in genetic research by an arrogant father [Nick Nolte] the outcome of which leads to his rage-induced incarnation of the monolithic Hulk. In landing the role, Bana says he was not surprised that director Ang Lee cast an actor, rather than a name star, "but I WAS surprised that the studio were going to give him the power to NOT cast a star. But when you think a lot of his movies, he has never really cast a lot of major superstars in a lot of the roles, but has generally gone dor actors, so if anything, I was obviously humbled by it and flattered, but it actually gave me a lot of confidence because it made me think that there was a reason why he's chosen ME, and without knowing that reason, I'll just go in and do the work and give everything I can." Far than just another comic book character, Bana says that part of the attraction of portraying this version of Bruce Banner, "is that, as an actor, there are no free moments. The kind of base level, for him, is someone who has wheels spinning, mentally, and we can see that on his face at all times, which means you're never let off the hook. So I knew it would be a good workout", he says, smilingly. Bana says that it's not difficult to identify with Banner. "I think we can all relate to the elements of Bruce that as a person surviving in society, there are elements of ourselves that we don't reveal or there are things that we may want to say or do that we simply don't."
Bana admits that it when it comes to comic books, he "was a bit of a late bloomer with all that stuff. I wasn't a big comic book READER as a kid, though I enjoyed the television shows from Hulk to Bionic Woman, but like a lot of people, I discovered that whole Marvel genre later in life and find it very interesting. There's very little mythology in modern day society and I think subconsciously, that maybe part of the attraction."
As Bana's once unknown name outside of Australia becomes a force to be reckoned with, all of this Hollywood stuff seems eons away from his Melbourne upbringing. His father has been working at 
Caterpillar, an American tractor company, for 40 years, involved in logistics while his mother is a retired hairdresser. Yet with no theatrical background to speak of, young Eric was always interested in acting, though conceding "I never for a second envisioned that I would end up here but I most definitely felt as a child that this is what I wanted to do. Ever since I was just past being a baby, I did mimicry, characters and impressions and had no idea that was useable in a professional sense until I got much older. Then it slightly kinda dawned on me, when I was introduced to movies as a young boy and saw some films that really transported me and I thought: Well maybe this skill is a home for those skills." He reveled in the classic Australian film Mad Max, but though it was his ultimate performance in the hard-edged Chopper that would win him international acclaim, Bana began his career not as a dramatic actor, but in stand-up comedy. He says that comedy was a way into the medium, admitting "I don't have in me a desire to be a joker and I've never been one to want to make a room full of people laugh unless they are friends and I like doing impressions and stuff. But to me, it was a medium. My stand-up comedy was never really jokey, but more anecdotal and storytelling which is probably why sketch-comedy to me was a much better fit and where I really kind of found my feet." Those feet were found, he recalls, after leaving school "when I was kind of bumming around. I had done a bit of traveling and a few odd jobs and was really professionally at a loose end. I knew I had wanted to do acting, I had absolutely no idea how to go about it and I was so bloody arrogant that I had no interest in going to drama school." He was in his early twenties at the time and was suggested that he try his hand at stand-up comedy. "Now in my mind I thought everyone was as good as Richard Pryor, so I thought I didn't have a chance. Then they took me to a stand-up comedy venue and there was one person who was great, and the rest frankly were shithouse. I thought: Are these people actually are getting paid? And my friend said not only are they getting paid they are traveling around the country doing this. So I tossed in my day job and said I'm going to have a go at this comedy thing." He began to work on characters, using his comedy as a framework. "I wasn't angry enough about the world to be one of those trailblazing comics, which is probably why the sketch comedy for me probably was a better fit."
Bana's various TV shows led to his feature debut playing the hilarious Con Petropoulous in The Castle, and then Chopper changed his life. Ang Lee and the producers of Hulk all saw Bana's rage-filled performance and knew they had found their Banner. The rest, as they say, is history. Eric is currently starring in the period drama Troy, admitting that he has "not had as much fun since I was in school." Working opposite Brad Pitt as Hector, Bana can't help smiling when talking about Troy. "It's one of those very rare moments I think in your life, professionally, where every single thing comes together. It's without a doubt the best script I have ever read and there is a good reason for that because the story's been around for thousands of years and they survive." Eric says that he has many a fight scene with Hollywood star Brad Pitt, but insists that he's "trying my best not to disfigure him."
This father of two is looking forward to taking some time off back in Australia with his wife and two young children, all of whom are with the actor when he's working in many exotic locales. As for returning to Australian movies, he's happy to do so under the right circumstances. "I don't see that it is my duty to do an Australian film for the purpose of doing one, because quite frankly they don't need it and if we were all to go back there and star in the movies, we would actually be doing the industry a disservice. I think that The Nugget proves that you don't need our batch to make Australian films any more special. The talent pool there is so deep as you know so yes I would love to find another Australian film but when I do it will be because it's a great project not because I feel as though it's my national duty. It's gotta be for the right reasons and they just don't need me. I'd like to feel that they do but I just don't feel that right now."
HULK opens on June 26.
Bana Talks Troy
Top
Interview By: Stax
Source: Film Force.ign.com
Provided By: Coe
Internet: March 7, 2003
And will he portray John Lennon, too?
March 07, 2003 - The Melbourne Star recently interviewed Aussie thesp Eric Bana about his upcoming late of films, including Hulk, Troy and his dream project, a biopic of slain rock legend John 
Lennon. "When I was a kid, Spartacus was my favorite movie, and in Troy I play a very Kirk Douglas-like character, so it's great," Bana told the Star. "To go from [taking over the Hulk from the late] Bill Bixby to Kirk Douglas overnight is just mind blowing for me. To think 10 years ago I was up and down the country playing crummy little gigs to pay the rent, and now I truly am the king of kings [Laughs]."
Bana claims that Troy director Wolfgang Petersen "has really given me the leverage to control this character [Hector, prince of Troy] in a much greater way than I would have expected and to do that alongside the likes of Brad Pitt and Peter O Toole, you know, it says how much faith he has in me as an actor, so I must be doing something right."
The thesp also revealed that he's "spoken to a few directors in America about doing a John Lennon biopic. I have spoken to Oliver Stone and [Hulk director] Ang Lee about it, and I am working on a script with a British writer. Really, it's up to the estate of John Lennon to decide whether it will get made or not, and then one of the Hollywood studios to fund it, so I will have to brush up on a convincing Liverpool accent. The movie will center on the last 10 years of Lennon's life, partly because I think it would be unwise for me to grow a mop-top at my age, and because those years are generally unknown to the masses and very interesting. I hope it goes ahead because this is a dream project. This will be my Raging Bull."
Aussie Homebody Is Ready to 'Hulk Out'
Top
Written By: Sean Daly
Source: ComicBookMovie.com
Provided By: Coe
Internet: June 17, 2003
Melbourne actor Eric Bana set to shed anonymity as Global stardom arrives at 34. "It comes at the right time", he says, "But plain and simply, Melbourne is my home. And I am a homebody, you know?"
LOS ANGELES-Eric Bana was in the bathroom of his bayside home in Melbourne, Australia, when he finally decided it was time to take on Hollywood. The surroundings had nothing to do with it, he offers with a smile. "That's just where I was when I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to be at the mercy of the Australian television industry any more." Ironically, TV provided the former bartender turned stand-up comic with his entry into show business a decade ago on the Australian sketch comedy program Full Frontal. But it was the movie Chopper - a grizzly depiction of real life prisoner Mark "Chopper" Read - that made him a household name Down Under. Now the 34-year-old father of two is savoring his last days of anonymity in the United States before the big screen version of Marvel Comics' The Hulk hits theatres Friday.
"I keep telling myself it is gonna be just the same as at home, only in a different country," he says, gazing up at a six-metre-high replica of the comic monster on the Universal Studios back lot. In what is reported to be the first in a trilogy of Hulk films, Bana stars as Dr. Bruce Banner, a mild-mannered scientist who turns into the Not-So-Jolly Green Giant when he becomes angry. The role was popularized on television by the late Bill Bixby in 1976, when a teenage Bana was busy "ramming around Tullamarine (a middle-class industrial suburb of Melbourne) on my BMX bike with my buddies, building jumps out of clay."
He still beams with pride about once jumping over 18 people on a bike using a two brick ramp - a stunt that terrified his mother, Eleanor, a retired German hairdresser. Bana's father Ivan, a Croatian-born logistics manager for Caterpillar tractors, spent much of his time trying to keep the budding daredevil from pursuing a career in professional motor sports.
"My only interest was working on cars," Bana remembers. "My dad said I could do whatever I wanted when I finished school, but he would not let me drop out to be a mechanic." Instead, Bana earned his diploma and quickly took up work serving pints of lager and ale at Melbourne's Castle Hotel. It was there that a bar manager suggested he entertain customers with his impressions and stand-up comedy. Within two years, Bana was invited to join Full Frontal, a comedy ensemble he compares to In Living Color. But the young comic never saw himself as the next Jim Carrey. "I was probably more like Dana Carvey," he says. Bana caught the attention of Hulk director Ang Lee with his performance in Chopper as a psychotic prisoner who cuts off his own ears in a bid to be isolated from other inmates.
"When I saw Chopper, I said, "There is the Hulk,'" Lee remembers. "I think it is important the person carries potential hope just by looking at him. I wanted somebody more than just Bruce Banner in the comic book who is a wimp." That's a stark contrast to Bana, who at 6-foot-2 was actually required to stay away from the gym and cover up his bulging muscles to pull off the character.
"We chose a wardrobe that would make me look as much like a scientist as possible," he explains. "There were no T-shirts allowed. It drove me a little crazy because I really like to exercise." Bana has always been health conscious, according to friends. "Eric is so incredibly disciplined," says actor Matthew Marsden, his co-star in last year's military thriller Black Hawk Down. "He is so careful what he eats. He has about 6 percent body fat." Even as a kid, Bana was always, as he puts it, "a decent sized boy." He played football, but otherwise kept mostly to himself. And if trouble ever came calling, he always had big brother Andrew, at 6-foot-8, around for backup. Despite his stature, Bana insists it takes a lot to bring out his inner Hulk.
"I tend to be very quiet and not let the big things bother me," he says. "It's usually the small things. I have two kids, so I am usually Hulked out by 8:30 in the morning." Bana prides himself on being a dedicated family man. Co-star Jennifer Connelly calls him "the type of guy who goes around showing off photos of his wife and kids."
His wife Rebecca is a former publicist and the daughter of Australia's High Court Chief Justice Murray Gleeson. They married in 1997 and travel together from set to set with son Klaus, 4, and daughter Sophia, 1. In a few hours, Bana will head back to Malta, where his is currently filming Wolfgang Peterson's Troy with Brad Pitt and Ben Kingsley. So far, Bana seems undaunted by the challenge of balancing a budding career and a successful family life.
"Undoubtedly there would be a lot of pressure if I weren't in a happy relationship, but we've got a lot of stuff under our belt and I think the best thing for me is the age at which all of this happened," he says. "If I was 21 and single, come on! There would be plenty of opportunities to make a dick out of myself." Maybe that's one more reason he recently purchased a second home for $4 million (U.S.) in Sydney and says there are no plans to relocate to Hollywood any time soon.
"It's not that I am anti-America," he says. "I really enjoy my time in L.A. and New York is one of my favorite cities in the world. But plain and simply, Melbourne is my home. And I am a homebody, you know?"
| < | Prev | · | 1 | · | 2 | · | 3 | · | 4 | · | 5 | · | 6 | · | 7 | · | 8 | · | Next | > |
