Actor Eric Bana was born on August 9, 1968 in Melbourne, Australia. The acclaimed actor, born Eric Banadinovich, showed talent in acting during his childhood, but mostly used it to entertain his family or get out of trouble in school. He decided that he wanted to become an actor after watching the 1979 film Mad Max, but only seriously considered a career as a performer in 1991, when he was persuaded to try his hand at stand-up comedy while working as a barman at a Melbourne hotel.
Bana finally made his television debut in 1993, when he appeared on the Australian late night talk show, Tonight Live. This brought him to the attention of the producers of Full Frontal, a sketch comedy show, who immediately hired him as a writer and performer. His four-year tenure was marked by characters based on members of his own family, as well as his impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Cruise, among others. He left the program in 1996 to front his own comedy series, The Eric Bana Show, which failed to attract an audience and was cancelled after eight episodes. Nevertheless, he took home a Logie Award in 1997 for his work on the show.
Bana made his film debut in the 1997 film The Castle, where he took a supporting comic role. His breakthrough film, however, was in the biopic Chopper, released the same year. Despite his lack of experience in dramatic roles, he prepared intensively, and eventually earned applause from critics both in Australia and abroad. It also led to him winning an Australian Film Institute Award for best actor.
Soon, Bana made the jump to Hollywood, first appearing in the Ridley Scott war film Black Hawk Down. This led to roles in several Hollywood productions, notably the epi film Troy and the comic book remake Hulk, which failed commercially despite increased promotion. Undeterred, he continued to appear in other Hollywood projects, such as the romantic comedy Lucky You and the historical drama The Other Boleyn Girl, and is also set to star in the film adaptations to The Time Traveler’s Wife and Star Trek. He continued appearing in several Australian projects, eventually earning a second Australian Film Institute Award for his performance in the drama film Romulus, My Father.
#First jobs: Washing cars at a service station, pushing trolleys at Coles New World, barman at Melbourne's Castle Hotel in 1991.
#Has two children with wife Rebecca Gleeson: Klaus (b. August 1999) and Sophia (b. April 2002).
#First car was an old 1974 Ford Falcon XB Coupe, purchased for $1000 at age 15.
#Tall by almost any standards at 6' 3", he is actually medium-sized or small by his family's standards. For instance, his brother stands 6' 8".
#I wanted to be a mechanic. When I was 14 I wanted to quit school and go work on my car. But my dad said Son, you shouldn't do that. You should stay in school until your education is finished, and when you're done, don't make your hobby your job.
#I race historic muscle cars back in Australia. And I try to race home as soon as I'm finished a movie but don't tell anyone.
#When I shoot I'll take my family with me - one movie a year and then the rest of the time at home.