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The Comic Who Turned Into an Assassin
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December 29, 2005
Written By: Laura M. Holson
Source: NewYorkTimes.com
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 28 - At a pivotal moment in Steven Spielberg's "Munich," Avner - an assassin hired to kill those responsible for the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics - shreds his mattress in a paranoid rage, looking for enemy explosives, before climbing into a closet to hide. The hunter has become the hunted.
Thus Eric Bana, who plays the role, once more realizes the character for which Hollywood knows him best: a conflicted warrior trapped by the moral ambiguities around him.
Mr. Bana has been there as Hector in "Troy," as Bruce Banner in "Hulk" and as an American soldier trapped in a futile gun battle with Somali warlords in "Black Hawk Down." Even in his Australian breakthrough role in 2000 as the real-life convict Mark (Chopper) Read, Mr. Bana's somewhat sociopathic character, as he sees it, kills to avoid being killed first.
"I am attracted to characters who think they are in control, but their situation is uncontrollable," Mr. Bana said, reflecting on both "Munich" and his career precedents in an interview last week at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills. "It is deeper, more interesting. The more troubled they are, the more interesting the part."
Playing a murderous assassin or battle-worn soldier might seem an odd choice, given that Mr. Bana, 37, spent nearly a decade as a stand-up comedian and television comedy actor in his native Australia. But, like his colleagues from down under, Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman, he has consistently been drawn to challenging directors, among them Ridley Scott, Ang Lee and Wolfgang Petersen.
"The movies people don't talk about or remember after six months' time don't really matter," Mr. Bana said.
If "Munich" and its uncertain hero have provoked public debate, they have only enhanced Mr. Bana's professional reputation as a sure-footed actor.
"He is an amazing mimic," said Jeff Robinov, president of production at Warner Brothers Pictures, which produced "Troy," as well as the forthcoming "Lucky You," in which Mr. Bana stars. "He comes prepared and is committed. He gave the role of Hector weight and humanity. That is very challenging for an actor."
Eric Banadinovich was born in 1968, the younger of two sons who grew up in a suburb not far from the Melbourne airport. Like many performers, Mr. Bana says that his show business career got started, in part, because he wasn't very good at math.
"I was distracted," he said, noting that he was forced to repeat 11th grade because his marks were so dismal. "I wasn't going to be a college kid. The only subject I was interested in was English. I think I had a subconscious interest in analyzing story."
Instead Mr. Bana was more interested in car racing, still a passion, and riding his BMX bicycle around the fields near his house. "We watched a lot of news, but we didn't have a lot of political arguments," he said of growing up. "We'd argue more over sports or car racing."
After high school, Mr. Bana spent six months driving around the United States in a used car he bought in New York City, then traveled to Europe before heading back home to Melbourne, where he still lives. There he worked odd jobs until 1990, when, on a dare from a friend, he decided to try out as a comedian at a stand-up comedy club and liked it.
"I was never a joke teller or jumped onstage at a party," Mr. Bana said. "But this was a kick in the pants."
Indeed, Mr. Bana does not exhibit the manic energy of other comics turned actors, like Robin Williams and Jim Carrey. (He is a fan of Richard Pryor and named his 13-year-old husky Jo Jo Dancer after a character Mr. Pryor played in 1986.) He conceded that becoming a comedian was something of an act of desperation, as he had no other career options then.
He spent much of his early 20's traveling with friends and performing in clubs. He recalled one night onstage in a rowdy country bar outside Melbourne where 400 people had gathered to hear a fellow performer. "They were not prepared for me," he said. They heckled and booed him.
"I was watching myself die," Mr. Bana said. "I got through a quarter of the act and I just walked off, went backstage and drank a cold beer."
In 1993, Mr. Bana joined the Australian sketch comedy series "Full Frontal" (where he met his future wife, Rebecca) as a writer and performer, staying for four years. Among his creations was a character named Peter ("Pronounced Poida," he explained), whom he described as a redneck who would ask actual politicians and other notables unseemly questions. Mr. Bana laughed when he recalled a sketch in which he asked John Wayne Bobbitt whether he wanted to "chuck a spaz" after his wife, Lorena, severed his penis with a kitchen knife in their Virginia apartment. ("Chuck a spaz" is Australian slang for "throw a fit.")
In 1997 Mr. Bana starred in six solo one-hour comedy television specials. But by then, "I was getting negative and bored," he said. "I decided it was time to mix things up. So I tried out for 'Chopper.' "
To prepare for the role of Mr. Read, a convict turned crime novelist whose antics captivated the Australian press, Mr. Bana gained 35 pounds, shaved his curly hair and, some days, spent five hours in makeup having fake tattoos painted on his body. He perused Mr. Read's prison records and studied the lives of his enemies and victims, too. He even spent a weekend with Mr. Read, a visit that is recorded on the DVD version of the film.
"I let it completely control my subconscious," he said of the role. "I just always felt like him. The more I love the character, the harder it is to get it wrong. I have to get to a point that I can speak for them."
When it comes to "Munich" and the reluctant assassin Avner, Mr. Bana professes still to have unsettled emotions. "I'm still confused by it, how to feel about what is happening," he said. "Are they good guys? Have they gone too far? I wonder about the bloodlust. It makes me feel confused and uncomfortable. Perhaps the zone of uncomfortability is the message."
But hasn't warfare always been so, back to Troy and beyond? "I don't know," he said somberly. "It's obviously quite depressing."
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