Hollywood heart-throb Eric Bana has come a long way since his stand-up comedy days and, as he tells Sophie Herdman, it doesn't look like he'll ever go back.

By Sophie Herdman


Eric Bana's big break was an interesting one. "Imagine a dark, gritty film about a legendary criminal starring Michael McIntyre," is how one Aussie has described it. Eternally jolly, cockerel-haired McIntyre playing a serial killer? Sounds unlikely.

But it is, indeed, a good comparison. Bana started his career on the stand-up circuit, later writing and performing comedy sketch shows on Australian TV. He was a wholesome, take-home-to-your-mum type comedian. Well-known, if not quite as famous as McIntyre.

And then Chopper Read, the aforementioned legendary criminal, who has been involved in the murder of 19 people and once attempted to kidnap a judge, picked Bana to play him in a film about his life.

It might have seemed like a strange choice, but Chopper had clearly spotted something in the comedian that no casting director had.

Bana has since gone on to star in critically acclaimed films such as Blackhawk Down, Star Trek, The Hulk and a Time Traveller's Wife, to name a few.

In his latest film, Deadfall, the actor continues to veer away from his comedy roots, playing sociopath Addison, the older brother of Liza (Olivia Wilde). The pair have an odd relationship, with hints of incest.

After a failed casino robbery attempt, the siblings split up and head through a snow blizzard to the Canadian border, Addison leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake.

"I don't think he's causing as much trouble as he is to disrupt the world, he really does think he is doing the right thing," says Bana, speaking from Melbourne.

"He's got a slightly twisted view of what's right and what's justice and the crimes accumulate to ridiculous levels - it's a bit of a runaway train."

Initially, Bana's agent thought that he would play the part of ex-boxer Jay (Charlie Hunnam), who Liza comes across on his journey, but it was the role of Addison that caught his eye.

"He just seemed more complicated. There were a few scenes that I immediately couldn't wait to do," says Bana.

"That's something you beg for as an actor - to read a script that you not only react to but immediately have ideas for."

Bana's family - wife, daughter and son - joined him on set, as they often do. He's a big believer in family time.

"I think it's incredibly important to control how much you're together. You could easily lose track of it if you're not careful."

Bana grew up in Melbourne, the youngest of two sons. His older brother was a keen basketball player.

"I was little Bana, even though I'm 6ft 3in, and he was Big Bana because he's 6ft 8in," he says.

He spent much of his childhood driving around with his parents watching his brother's matches.

"All I wanted to do was race BMX bikes, but I quite enjoyed having a big brother who was good at something and he's really enjoyed my career, so we have a good relationship."

Bana still lives in Melbourne and seems wholly uninterested in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. "When I'm at home I really do forget I'm an actor", he says.

When he's not spending time with his family, he's indulging in his ultimate passion - motors, be they car or motorbike.

In fact, such is Bana's obsession that he once made a documentary film - Love The Beast - about the 25-year history of his first car.

Melbourne is, he says, motorcycling heaven. "It's one of the reasons I would never want to leave."

He still competes in races and loves nothing more than spending a few days riding bikes in the Australian Outback with friends.

"I probably stand a pretty good chance of hurting myself, but I like to think that most of the time I keep the odds in my favour," he says.

But he has no desire to play a famous racing driver. "I'd end up with a stunt man tapping me on the shoulder saying, 'You're not allowed to do this'. That doesn't interest me at all; I'd tell him where to go."

If he can tear himself away from his bike, he plans to visit the cinema to see Star Trek: Into Darkness, the latest film in the space-based franchise.

He has a vested interest, of course, having played time-travelling baddie Nero in the previous film.

"I think [director] JJ Abrams did such an incredible job with the last one, it was so entertaining and well put together."

Bana has a few films currently in the making, one about terrorism, another about a group of United States Navy Seals on a mission to Afghanistan.

And on top of that, a thriller, By Virtue Fall, directed by Scott Derrickson of The Exorcism Of Emily Rose fame.

"It's not a slasher film, more a psychological thriller. You will wet yourself, honestly," Bana enthuses.

Since his early comedic days, Bana has done a few comedy films here and there but says he doesn't watch comedy all that much any more. A bit of Curb Your Enthusiasm, some Louis CK.

"And I'm a sucker for an old episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. I don't know why, if the mother reminds me of my mother, it's just all too close to home," he says, laughing.

Bana has said in numerous interviews that he doesn't miss performing stand-up, that making people laugh was never something he particularly cared about. What he does miss, though, is writing stand-up material.

"I stopped doing stand-up because I found I was more prolific at writing sketch comedy. I'd go on stage and feel my material was way immature for where I was but my sketch comedy was more reflective of my comedic sophistication," he says.

"One of my biggest regrets was that I never got to go on stage with material that was up to the standard that I would have liked it to have been."

Of course, at only 44, there's still time...

"Yeah. I went to see a dear friend, Kitty Flanagan, at Melbourne Comedy Festival last week and after I thought, 'Come on, sit down and write some stuff.'"

So why doesn't he? "I just plain old get too tempted by the scripts that come in."


Extra time - Eric Bana's best bits

:: Chopper (2000) - Bana plays legendary Australian criminal Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read.

:: Black Hawk Down (2001) - Bana plays Hoot in his first Hollywood blockbuster film.

:: Hulk (2003) - The film might not have been a hit with the critics, but Bana's performance as Bruce Banner was.

:: Troy (2004) - Bana plays Prince Hector, co-starring with Brad Pitt.

:: Munich (2005) - Steven Spielberg, impressed by Bana's performance in Hulk, casts Bana as Avner, a Mossad agent.

:: Star Trek (2009) - Bana plays Nero, a Romulan mining captain attempting to get revenge on Spock.

:: The Time Traveller's Wife (2009) - Bana plays time travelling Henry Detamble in the film adaptation of the novel by Audrey Niffenegger.

:: Funny People (2009) - Bana appears with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogan in this comedy.

:: Hanna (2011) - Bana plays a father training his daughter to become an assassin.

 

:: Deadfall is released in cinemas on Friday, May 10