Eric Bana

Eric Bana mini-bio: Eric Bana was born Eric Banadinovich on August 9, 1968, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He is the younger of two brothers. His father, named Ivan Banadinovic, came from Zagreb, Croatia, and worked as a manager for Caterpiller Inc. His mother, named Eleanor Banadinovich, came from a German family and was a hairdresser.

Young Bana grew up in suburban Melbourne. He was popular among his schoolmates for his talent of making comic impressions of his teachers. At that time he was fond of Mel Gibson in Mad Max (1979) and also decided to become an actor. He moved to Sydney; there he studied acting at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and worked odd jobs to support himself. In 1991 he began a career as a stand-up comedian, while working as a barman at Melbourne's Castle Hotel. In 1993 Bana made his television debut on Steve Vizard's Tonight Live talk show, then joined the 'Full Frontal' TV-series. He gained popularity for making impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruse, and Colombo. In 1996 he started his own show titled 'Eric', then launched a comedy series titled 'The Eric Bana Show'. The show was canceled for the lack of substantial audience, however, in 1997, Bana received the Logie Award for "Most Popular Comedian" for his work on 'The Eric Bana Show' (1997).

He made his film debut in 'The Castle' (1997), in a supporting comic role. That same year he was cast to portray Read, the notorious Australian underworld figure. For the role, Bana gained 30 pounds, by eating junk food; he also spent a few days with Read in prison, in order to perfect his mimicry. Bana completely transformed himself into a bald, fat, disturbed criminal. He would arrive on the film set at four in the morning, spending several hours in makeup, being tattooed exactly like Read. Chopper (2000) became an international success and won three Australian Film Institute Awards. Bana won the Best Actor at the 2000 Stockholm Film Festival and also the AFI 2000 Best Actor Award. Then he co-starred in Black Hawk Down (2001), then starred in Hulk (2003). In 2002 he was cast as a Trojan Prince Hector in the historical epic Troy (2004), after being recommended by Brad Pitt, who admired Bana for his work in Chopper (2000). In 2005, Bana co-starred with Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush in the political drama Munich (2005) directed by Steven Spielberg.

In 1995 he began dating Rebecca Gleeson, a publicist and daughter of Australian High Court Chief Justice, Murray Gleeson. The following year he was named "Bachelor of the Year" by Cleo Magazine, and won a trip for two to the United States. He invited Gleeson, and proposed to her during that romantic trip. In 1997 the two were married; their son, Klaus, was born in 1999, their daughter, Sophia, was born in 2002. He currently resides in Melbourne with his wife and their two children. Bana is a passionate supporter of Australian football.

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