Quotes from Eric
		Himself
		Family
		Career
		Quotes About Eric
		Costars
		Directors
		Movie Projects
		Black Hawk Down
		Chopper
		Hulk
		The Nugget

Quotes from Eric

Eric: About Himself

"Just a little over 6-foot-2, around 200 pounds. Brown hair, brown eyes. Likes the outdoors.'' (1)"

My fears are not taking risks. So as a result, I think that I do have fear, but I like to think that I don't. Because, really, what are the consequences of failure? It doesn't manifest itself in anything other than how you perceive yourself or how you think others perceive you, which is completely irrelevant." (2)

When Bana was still in high school, a "very, very close friend" died of cancer. "It was a real big slap in the face for me, and it had a profound effect on how I look at things. I never take things for granted. And even on my worst days, I still feel lucky." (25)

"I've never overly believed in luck. I think I've been fortunate, and right now I'm in an incredibly fortunate position, which I'm totally aware of. I think luck gets you on to the stage. But it has nothing to do with keeping you there. I guess I struggle with it because I've never said to myself if I'm lucky, I might be able to get a gig. If I'm lucky, if things fall my way, I might be able to make a film." (25)

"You probably wouldn't be too fazed, because I go pretty quiet when I'm angry. I'm more likely to kind of walk off and brood somewhere because I'm probably afraid of the repercussions of 'going off', you know. I am generally pretty well-measured." (2)

"It's not that I am anti-America. I really enjoy my time in L.A. and New York is one of my favourite cities in the world. But plain and simply, Melbourne is my home. And I am a homebody, you know?" (3)

Eric: About Growing Up

"I had quite a satisfactory and normal childhood, a wonderful one really. My brother, who's three years older, and I got along really well. We got into a few fights occasionally, but there wasn't much choice, as he's been 6ft 8in ever since he was 12. He always just warned me, 'Punch me and I'll punch you back twice as hard'." (2)

"I think my mum and dad have always been a bit worried about me. I think it was a huge relief to them when I said I was going to be a stand-up comedian. I think most parents would have gone, 'Oh, what?' But I think my parents went, 'At last, something that he wants to do. A career! He could make 60 bucks a week! That would be incredible. He'll move out of home'." (4)

He often thinks of the wise words of his father: "My old man always said that luck is preparation met by opportunity." (25)
"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." (3)

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. (3)

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.(3)

Eric: About Women

"I learned a lot about women through my wife, actually, so I was a bit of a late bloomer in that respect. I've always really loved the company of women, I quite often find them more interesting. Men spend a lot of time playing games with bravado and bullshit whereas I think women can be far more honest." (2)

"At the age of 16, I enrolled in a co-ed school. Before that I'd studied in schools exclusively for boys. So there I was, a solitary guy suddenly surrounded by 30 to 40 girls, pretending to be cool even when I was breaking into a sweat. I guess I could never stop acting." (5)

When did you get 'serious' with girls?
"Fifteen or 16. Thereabouts. I learned like everyone else. Trial and error. I went to an all-boys school up until the last two years when it went co-ed which is like dropping a hand grenade in the middle of an ammunitions supply store, isn't it? In the last two years of the most crucial stages of their curriculum, let's introduce them to lots of short-skirted young women!" (2)

Did it meet your expectations?
"I didn't have any expectations. At that point you're just happy to get clocked up aren't you? You're happy to get the first one under your belt." (2)

Describe the perfect date.
"The daggier the situation the better. I would much rather take her to breakfast than do the whole dinner/movie/coffee thing. There is too much expectation when you date at night. Not only is alcohol involved but there's the whole "walk to the door, go in for a nightcap, will- this-end-in-sex?" thing. I'd like to start with breakfast and let the rest come naturally. People tend to be more themselves in the daylight hours." (28)

Do you listen to music when you make love?
"I can't. I lost my virginity to Dragon and that kind of ruined the whole making-love-to-music gig for me. Now, I prefer silence."(28)

What is the greatest myth about men?
"That all men prefer skinny women. It frustrates the hell out of me. I don't know who started the rumor but it's wrong. Women who are hippy, shapely and healthy are far sexier than starved girls with attitude. Perhaps it stems from media images. In women's magazines, models are generally skinny and pouty whereas in men's magazines the models are softer, curvier and rounder. They're not called men's magazines for nothing." (28)

So, apart from curves, what qualities attract you to a woman?
"Compatibility. That's the most important thing. We have to be a team. Secondly, I like a woman who understands and supports my performing but has her own high level of motivation and ambition. It also helps if she's sexy, athletic and spontaneous."(28)

"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." (3)

Eric: About Cars

"As a kid, I loved fantasising about driving cars across the skies. I still have my first car, a very old Ford Falcon, which looks straight out of Mad Max. I wasn't crazy about school and studies at all; I wanted to become a car mechanic. I ended up working in a bar and since I used to horse around, I was told I could become a stand-up comic like Richard Pryor. So I did." (2)

"As a kid, I loved fantasising about driving cars across the skies. I still have my first car, a very old Ford Falcon, which looks straight out of Mad Max. I wasn't crazy about school and studies at all; I wanted to become a car mechanic. I ended up working in a bar and since I used to horse around, I was told I could become a stand-up comic like Richard Pryor. So I did." (2)

Eric: About His Family

But home is where the heart and the family are. I'm fortunate that my wife Rebecca and children enjoy travelling. Wherever I am working, at the end of the day, I need to be with family, like a bird returning to its nest every evening. We have two kids; I'd hate the idea of them telling me later in life that I did not give them the care and attention they deserve. Call me square if you like but I believe parenthood is another word for responsibility." (5)

"Yeah, though my wife has taught me to be a talker which took a little bit of getting used to but is kind of efficient and works for us. Maybe with other people I would rather just let it go. You get older and you can't be bothered. It's like, am I really going to change the world by throwing a tantrum? Sometimes I'd rather just pop on my motorcycle and go for a ride. Release it through fossil-fuel consumption." (2)

"Then when I'm home I'll decide what to do next. I realise that working this way isn't the conventional thing to do, but I don't ever want to work back-to-back. I have a couple of kids and it's really important to me that they spend time at home and that I spend time at home. That's where I live my life. I want to indulge in my life, my family and my friends. I want to indulge in my hobbies - tinkering with the car, motor racing and motorcycles." (6)

"I'm trying to keep Klaus sheltered from The Hulk. God forbid, I hope it's a long time before he actually sees me transform from [mild-mannered scientist] Bruce Banner to The Hulk. Unfortunately, he's already seen a glimpse of the trailer and he was very confused about how and why my eye was green." (6)

"My last three shoots - 'Black Hawk Down,' 'Hulk' and 'Troy' - have been big and long, and my family's been with me. Obviously, I can't imagine going eight, nine months without them there.'' (1)

"I spend every moment at home, other than when I'm working. We live at home in Melbourne, Australia. So before I started on Troy, we were at home for nine months after this film finished. And basically, I just like being at home. Home is home, and I get back there is often as I can and do all the things that I like doing in the spare time." (7)

"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." (3)

 

Rebecca Bana:
"Well, we were in Aspen and we were skiing, which is my favourite thing in the world to do, and it was a beautiful, beautiful sunny day and halfway down a run, Eric said, "Becks, just stop for a minute". And he pulled out this ring and proposed to me and there was no-one around, which again is amazing for a skier. So it was beautiful. And I said yes." Eric Bana:
"Yeah, I proposed at 7000 feet. By the time I got to 2000 feet, the wedding was organised." (4)

"My last three shoots - 'Black Hawk Down,' 'Hulk' and 'Troy' - have been big and long, and my family's been with me. Obviously, I can't imagine going eight, nine months without them there.'' (1)

Eric: About His Career

"I think there's a potential for experience to help you. I think there's also the potential for experience to be a hindrance. It is one of the reasons that I didn't want to, when I was young, attend drama school. I think sometimes too much knowledge can be a hindrance. And I've found that myself as you go through more and more productions, there are some things that can weigh you down. I actually find myself reverting more than anything else and try to tap into primal instincts that haven't been tapered." (7)

"You know what is essential for us to survive in Australia is to have talent. It's not like you're going to get cast in something because you've been in an underwear commercial. The competition is just as hot back home, because there's so little opportunity, so you really do have to be good to survive. Then when we come knocking on these doors and hopefully it means that we've made a few of our mistakes back home already." (2)

"I have a theory, the public should only ever see you when you're in the middle of promoting a film, otherwise keep out of their face. I know it's odd and I know it's weird because I'm in this industry and I'm in these huge movies, but at the same time I'm the last person in the world to want attention, you know?" (2)

"Acting has never felt like a chore at all, it's not as much of a stretch as it looks. If you're earning five and six figure salaries, you'd better be all there. Sure, if you have to get into the action mode, you have to train yourself in martial arts, gymnastics, boxing, swordfighting - the works. I enjoy action, drama, and if I'm asked to do a take-off on someone, then the comedy bit is like icing on the cake." (5)

"We live back home in Australia, in Melbourne and I've been known at home for a long time and we're able to live a very, very normal existence that doesn't really change. I mean, it changes professionally obviously, but personally, to be honest, my theory is it's as much as you want to bite off and I'm not interested in biting too much off." (9)

"No I won't move. It's pointless. How many films get shot here? I'm doing one now and I'm in Malta. I move to L.A. and my next film will be in Sydney. It's not at all tempting to move." (9)

"But I don't think that's enough. I think it's dangerous to think that talent alone is enough to get you through. I travel very, very light. I don't have assistants, I don't have staff. And I can move quick. I'm sure that's possibly part of the attraction for some film-makers. For me to have people around me is counterproductive to me getting into character or me being able to function in this slightly insane system and stay sane. The only way you stay sane is by constantly getting back to you and it's hard to get back to you if you've got a million people around you." (10)

Eric: About Impersonations

"I became an actor because of my parents, they were often amused when I'd make faces and copy the way they'd walk, talk or argue with each other. Yeah, ever since I was four, I wanted to be an actor. Imagine, now I'm being paid for it." (5)

"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." (1)

"I suddenly realised the currency of mimicry and it helped me survive in that environment. I was the thinking person's clown. They'd say, Eric, could you please do Mr So and So? They'd get the organ out and start grinding it and the monkey would start dancing. I didn't care, as long as it got me somewhere." (2)

Eric: About His Comedy Routine

"Whenever someone laughs with you. not at you. then you've connected. I didn't want to become a circus joker or cajole attention to myself with gags and slapstick. Without knowing it, somehow I could carry off deadpan humour. The thing is never to be obvious, a quality which Buster Keaton perfected into an art. Keaton was expressionless and he was stupendously funny. Similarly, when you have to express anger, you have to lower your pitch. If you scream yourself hoarse, flare your nostrils, wave your hands about, bring fire and brimstone into your eyes, then that anger won't be convincing at all. But why am I telling you my trade secrets?" (5)

What was your standup routine like?
"I'd describe it as funny, of course. It was kind of laid back and anecdotal. I did stand up for ten years. I did sketch comedy for six years and made the switch to drama. I'd always wanted to be an actor. I never, for a second thought that that would mean being a movie star but I always thought I could act and had something to offer. I was never a big joke writer, so the stand-up was more kind of storytelling interspersed with some voices and characters and stuff like that. It was something that happened early on and I loved it. I do miss it occasionally, definitely." (9)

"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." (8)

"Yeah, it was kind of storytelling. I was never a big joke writer, so it was more kind of storytelling interspersed with some voices and characters and stuff like that, which is why I ended up in the sketch comedy. Someone had seen my act and said you should really try out for this sketch comedy program because it would be a good fit for you. He did then go on to say that you're not very good at stand-up comedy. So yeah, it was something that happened early on and I loved it. I do miss it occasionally, definitely." (12)

Eric: About Sketch Comedy

"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." (8)

"I've never felt a compulsion to make someone who I barely know fall in love with me through laughter. And as a stand-up I was never a big joke teller or a big physical comedy guy, so when I didn't want to be there it was the worst form of torture." (2)

"I got the best of both worlds, at home I'm stereotyped for bein' funny... Here, I'm stereotyped for bein' serious. Most of my stuff was kind of subtle and character-driven. I wasn't the big physical comedy guy, it was kind of un-Jim Carrey-ish. The thing is I have never felt like a comedian. I felt like an actor who was doing comedy. That's why I got into sketch comedy. I was never a gag writer or jokey performer, it was very human, very melancholic." (11)

Eric: About Choosing Characters

"I never look at the size of the film when I'm looking for a part. The last three international films I've done, I've been drawn like a fly to the characters. It's been very easy choices for me, but they're ridiculously great characters to play, so size of the film doesn't really have much bearing. But it is odd that they've been as big as they have been. But it doesn't bother me. I think it's also a real kind of challenge and takes a certain personality type to be able to function inside those big machines, and I think once you get into a groove, they can be kind of fun." (13)

"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." (11)

"I have to be obsessed about the idea. And I think you have to be because in my instance. Look at Black Hawk Down, Hulk and now Troy, I'm taking myself, my wife and two children out of home for six months, in a foreign country away from family and friends. So they're big commitments. It's not like I'm a single guy who can go from film to film and just be very cavalier about it." (10)

"It's kind of two phased. Personally it hasn't really changed at all. I have a great normal life back home in Australia. Professionally it does change. It provides wonderful opportunities. The role in Troy is the role of a lifetime so it's fabulous. The most exciting thing for any actor is choice and to be given that choice and spend the time looking for the right projects. I enjoy living at home so I tend not to make more than one film a year." (9)

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." (14)

"I don't know about a comedy. Who knows? I don't have any hard and fast rules. I gravitate towards characters that I find interesting and I do find dramatic characters more interesting than light characters just because there's a lot more work involved. I could totally end up doing a comedy one day." (15)

Quotes About Movies

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Chopper

“I’m not sure why I got the role in Chopper,” Bana says. “You don’t look at Poida and say, ‘Yeah, he’d be perfect to play a man who hacked off his own ears just to get into a prison hospital’.” (26)

“I’d been doing 10 years of stand-up and six years of television skit comedy. I felt I needed to spread my wings,” says Bana. “I had also reached the stage where people saw me as one type of performer.” (26)

"Yeah but we got to shoot take after take if Andrew or myself wasn't happy. I mean we never nailed it in one, and we'd just always, you know, you'd go into the shoot knowing that he was going to shoot a lot of takes so you use that. But in this case, you're going in knowing that if he's happy with take one there may not be a take two, which is a really scary thing to get your head around. It's even scarier when he moves on after a take because that's it, and you think, are you sure you don't want to do another one in case there's a scratch or..." (24)

"We were literally... if it was a big dramatic scene, you'd turn up, you may or may not do a run through and you would shoot. And the camera department and the focus pullers were that hot that they would get it in one take, and he would sometimes move on. And you would go, 'Fuck!'" (24)

Black Hawk Down

"It was incredible. It was... it's so hard to work out the difference between the party line and not offending the indigenous culture. Just in terms of being respectful to a city and country that welcomed you for five months to come and shoot a blockbuster film. I feel sorry for them, because I feel that it's a really oppressed confused country, so I feel sorry for the Moroccans, so as a result of that, it's not an easy place for Westerners to spend extended periods of time, especially in Rabat. And then on top of that, we were a huge disruption for them. So..." (24)

"Bill Fichtner and I are actually brothers. We actually adopted each other, you know, birth and marriage certificates to prove that we're actually brothers. He's an awesome guy, and I love the guy to death, we got along really well. Our wives have bonded, and we've got a really great friendship. Um, my other mate who went to Fort Bragg with Bill and I, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau... I mean a lot of the guys, but those two I got very close to, and another guy called Kim Coates who's a crazy Canadian. But there was a great bunch of people on the film." (24)

"I think it's different with every role. I have a - I'm going to sound like a complete wanker - I find it very hard to explain, and I actually don't like talking about prep that much except for the stuff that's obvious, like when you go to boot camp and stuff, because I think that it's stuff people like to judge other people on. And I don’t want my process to be judged. I want people to judge my films and my performance. I don't want them to go... it's like that thing of, ‘Oh I heard so and so for a role climbed a mountain and screamed at the top of his voice, isn't that amazing’. Well he sounds like a fucking idiot, you know. And what I choose to do might be something equally as absurd, but then suddenly people judge that as opposed to your performance. So I think it's different for every film and it's not something I like to..." (24)

Hulk

"More than anything else I was attracted to playing a character that had so much baggage and so much going on. I love the idea that Bruce has no control over what's happening to him and that he's on this journey of personal discovery and there's always something going on in his head. As a character actor that's what you are looking for." (9)

"I think we worked out our own thing pretty much. We did a little bit of rehearsal in pre-production. We're obviously well-guarded by Ang [Lee, director] but he left a lot of responsibility to us to come up with these characters. I really liked that relationship. When you think about it, she and I aren't granted the usual tricks to portray a couple. There's not even a screen kiss. There's no intimacy there but, at the same time, it's really obvious their feelings for each other which I knew was going to be a big challenge and something I'm proud of and I hope she is too. It's a very unconventional relationship cinematically but I think a very interesting one."(9)

"Hugh Jackman is a close friend of mine and we've had some interesting discussions. I was in London recently when X-Men 2 was premiering there. I looked at him and said 'Hugh, do you realize something?' He said 'what?' and I said 'You're Wolverine and I'm the Hulk. Do you realize that?' It was kind of weird. It's very funny." (9)

[Laughs] "Be warned, actors who have a fight scene with Josh Lucas. I said the next film I do is going to be a boxing film. I'm gonna cast him opposite me and I'm gonna beat the c*** out of him. Maybe one of those ultimate fighting movies. He grabbed me by the neck and I said, 'Josh, you don't actually have to squeeze. Just make it look like you're squeezing because I'm actually passing out'." (9)

"You're aware of the pressure of Bruce Banner having to work. Otherwise we're all in trouble. But no, there were never a lot of conscious decisions I would make that would be about 'Okay, well, later on when the Hulk does this…' I knew that ILM would be chasing what I was doing in a lot of respects. And when I saw the film I felt like they had totally managed to drag character into that CGI figure. That was what blew me away." (9)

"The character has some meatly background because of the emotional father-son theme. I knew it would be a big challenge to get it right'' (6)

Was it your butt or a double?
"It was mine. It was mine. Doubles, I’m not at that point in my career yet where I could ask for one, so no. It was my freezing ass up in The Sequoias." (12)

The Nugget

"I made the decision to do it a long time ago," he says. "Then all this stuff happened and I remember thinking, 'I hope I'm doing the right thing'. And I re-read the script and I knew I was. The first thing I thought when I read it was, 'This is a film I would want my son to see'. So I had to do it." (26)

"Belinda was an absolute joy," Bana says. "Extremely down to earth, a very real person. She's been through a hell of a lot, and was going through a hell of a lot at the time. I think we were all pretty humbled by what was occurring. And it does make you think - again - about just how lucky you are." (25)

Quotes from Other Actors About Eric

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Jennifer Connelly (Betty Ross in Hulk):
Co-star Jennifer Connelly calls him "the type of guy who goes around showing off photos of his wife and kids." (3)

"Eric's great," Connelly gushes. "I watched him in 'Chopper', I was very impressed with him."(16)

Josh Lucas (Talbot in Hulk):
"He's very serious about what he is doing," The Hulk co-star Josh Lucas said. "It's funny that he's a comedian, because he was quite serious." (22)

Nick Nolte (David Banner, Hulk's Father in Hulk):
"Well, you know, if you’ve ever seen Chopper? Alright. Does that look anything like Eric? You know? No. Eric is one of those actors that is blessed with being a character lead. You know, he doesn’t play off his own personality, he changes. So he will be around for a long time because movie stars play off a set of personality qualities and we basically play that over again. Eric’s going to change from role, to role, to role, so that means unexpectedness and he does it so effectively he’s already extremely at doing it because if you saw Chopper. The minute I saw Chopper I said Wow, and the minute I met him, I went Wow." (21)

Diane Kruger (Helen in Troy):
"He's a great actor. I saw the movie yesterday and was blown away. I thought he was incredible and he's a very normal guy too. He always travels with his wife and children. It's very refreshing to see and he's very committed. I really felt he was terrific in the movie." (19)

Rose Byrne (Brises in Troy):
"People just adore him; they always mention 'Chopper'. You know, Brad Pitt is a massive fan of that film. People have an enormous amount of respect for Eric. Chopper is just genius," gushes Byrne, who presented Bana with the AFI Award for best actor. "I think it's one of the most exciting cinema performances I've seen in my life. It's like our Taxi Driver." (20)

Matthew Marsden (Spec. Dale Sizemore in Black Hawk Down):
"Eric is so incredibley disciplined," says actor Matthew Marsden, his co-star in last year's military thriller 'Black Hawk Down'. "He's so careful what he eats. He has about 6 percent body fat. And he's good, very good. Eric is going to basically steal this picture. I've told him, 'You're going to be a star, mate.' "(3)

Jason Isaacs (Captain Steele in Black Hawk Down):
[Laughs] "Oh no, I think Eric's pretty bloody good at accents. He's amazing. Within a day, Eric was doing such fantastic spot-on impressions of everyone on the crew that he could shout out like the director of photography and get all the electricians to carry all the lights around. He was an incredibly funny man. I was incredibly lucky because the guy I was playing was from Georgia and we trained in Georgia and I just had my tape recorder out the whole time. It's much easier when you've got a direct model." (23)

"Eric's unbelievable. I hadn't heard about 'Chopper', but someone on set had the DVD which was passed around, and every day, you'd hear someone going: "Fuck me! Have you seen Eric in Chopper?!" And then he started imitating members of the crew and he did it so well that he could shout out orders like the cinematographer and the crew would start moving the lights around. He's an irritatingly talkented man, and if he wasn't so nice I'd hate him. And after The Hulk, I don't think you guys will ever see him again."(23)

Quotes from Directors

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Ang Lee: Hulk

"He was my best choice. The most expensive star is the green guy himself, so we weren't going to have one of the top five box office actors to star with him. I needed an actor with a certain melancholy demeanor and Eric has that. I saw that in him when I watched 'Chopper'. And the camera is friendly to Bana as a leading man, too. That alwayws helps.'' (6)

"When I saw 'Chopper', I said, 'There is the Hulk'". Lee remebers. "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." (3)

Rob Sitch: The Castle

"There's not much that they can throw his way that he can't handle," says Rob Sitch, who directed him in The Castle in 1997. "Hollywood is the sort of town where you have to have the straight white teeth. And from what girls tell me, he's a pretty good-looking guy so he's got that up his sleeve as well." (18)

"Five years ago, when we heard that Eric Bana was going to play Chopper, my colleagues and I went, 'Yep, perfect!'" recalls Sitch. "But at the time, all I heard was, 'That's a weird choice.' And all that underlines is that there is a great misunderstanding about what acting is - and also a great misunderstanding about what Eric can do." (18)

Sources

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1.	Bana, E (2004) 'Bana Takes On Hulking Role In War Epic' Los Angeles, California USA, www.BostonHerald.com May 14, 2004.
2.	Bana, E (2003) 'Bana Headlines' Los Angeles, California USA, www.Film.Guardian.co.uk June 22, 2003.
3.	Bana, E (2003) 'Aussie Homebody is Ready to Hulk-Out', Los Angeles, California USA, www.ComicBookMovie.com June 17, 2003.
4.	Bana, E (2004) 'Eric The Great' Australia, www.SixtyMinutes.com.au May 2, 2004.
5.	Bana, E (2004) 'Eric Bana Bond?' New York, New York USA, www.Web.Mid-Day.com August 8, 2004.
6.	Bana, E (2003) 'Eric Bana & The Next Big (Green) Thing' Los Angeles, California USA, www.NZHerald.com.nz June 13, 2003.
7.	Bana, E (2003) 'Hulk Interview' Los Angeles, California USA, www.ComicsContinuum.com June 16, 2003.
8.	Bana, E (2003) 'Bana Sees Green' Los Angeles, California USA, www.Girl.com.au 2003.
9.	Bana, E (2003) 'We're Hanging with Eric Bana: The Hulk' Los Angeles, California USA, www.AGirlsWorld.com June 2003.
10.	Bana, E (2002) 'The Incredible Rise of Mr Bana' Melbourne, Australia, www.TheAge.com.au October 12, 2002.
11.	Bana, E (2003) 'Easy Being Green' Los Angeles, California USA, www.Jam.Canoe.ca June 18, 2003.
12.	Bana, E (2003) 'Interview: Eric Bana Hulk' Los Angeles, California USA, www.DarkHorizons.com June 3, 2003.
13.	Bana, E (2004) 'The Boys of Troy' New York, New York USA, www.ActionAdventure.about.com May 10, 2004.
14.	Bana, E (2003) 'Bana Talks Troy' Melbourne, Australia, www.FilmForce.ign.com March 7, 2003.
15.	Bana, E (2004) 'Troy Coverage, Interview: Eric Bana' New York, New York USA, www.Chud.com May 10, 2004.
16.	Connelly, J (2001) 'Jennifer Connelly and Eric Bana Get Serious About The Hulk' Los Angeles, California USA, zap2it.com December 19, 2001.
17.	Marsden, M (2001) 'Black Hawk Down' Los Angeles, California USA, www.gloomygus.org December 8, 2001.
18.	Sitch, R (1997) 'Troy Boy' Syndey, Australia, www.smh.com.au May 13, 2004.
19.	Kruger, D (2004) 'Interview: Diane Kruger' Los Angeles, California USA, www.DarkHorizons.com May 6, 2004.
20.	Byrne, R (2004) 'Troy Boy' Syndey, Australia, www.smh.com.au May 13, 2004.
21.	Nolte, N (2003) 'Interview: Nick Nolte' Los Angeles, California USA, www.moviehole.net June 5, 2003.
22.	Lucas, J (2003) 'Lucas Talks Bana' Los Angeles, California USA, www.countingdown.com September 29, 2002.
23.	Isaacs, J (2001) 'Black Hawk Down' Los Angeles, California USA, www.gloomygus.org December 8, 2001.
24.	Bana, E (2002) 'Eric On Black Hawk Down' Melbourne, Australia, www.if.com.au Febuary 2002.
25.	Bana, E (2002) 'Eric's Eureka' Melbourne, Australia, www.The Herald Sun.com.au September 30, 2002.
26.	Bana, E (2002) 'Bana Breaks Through' Melbourne, Australia,The West Magazine, Febuary 9, 2002.
27.	Bana, E (2002) 'Eric the Idol' Los Angeles, California USA, www.gloomygus.org December 8, 2001.
28.	Bana, E (1996) 'Bachelor of the Year' Melbourne, Australia,Cleo Magazine, 1996.