In 1993, Bana was invited to perform on Steve Vizard's late night talk show, Tonight Live, making his television debut.Biography. Eric Bana Central. Retrieved May 13 2006. His performance gained the attention of producers from the sketch comedy series, Full Frontal, who invited him to join the show as a writer and performer. His impressions of Columbo, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Tom Cruise made Bana popular with the show's audience.Darren Devlyn. "First Impressions". TV Weekly. February 10 1993. His increasing popularity on Full Frontal led to his own television special titled Eric in 1996. The show, a collection of sketches featuring everyday characters, was a success and the following year he launched his own sketch comedy series The Eric Bana Show. The series, written and performed by Bana, featured skits, stand-up and celebrity guests but failed to attract a substantial audience and was cancelled due to low ratings after only eight episodes.Kate Halfpenny. "Under the Gun". Who Magazine. August 8 2000.

In 1997, Bana made his film debut in the Australian movie The Castle, which told the story of a Melbourne-based family's stuggles to keep their home by Melbourne's airport after the Government and airport authorities force them to move. He was featured in a supporting comedic role as Con Petropoulous, a kickboxing accountant. The Castle was a surprise critical and financial success, earning dollar|AU$" target="_blank" >^*877,621 at the box office in Australia.Box Office Mojo - The Castle. Retrieved July 6 2006. Also that year, Bana received the Logie Award for "Most Popular Comedian" for his work on The Eric Bana Show.

Film career

In 1997, Bana was approached by director Andrew Dominik to appear in the film Chopper (2000), a biopic based on the life of infamous Australian criminal Chopper Read. Dominik had been working on the project for five years, but was unable to find an actor to portray Read. It was only after Read himself suggested Bana, having seen him perform a skit on television, that Dominik considered him for the part—even though Bana had little experience in dramatic roles.Christopher Strickland. "Director's Cut: Andrew Dominik's Chopper". IF: Australia's Independent Film Magazine. July 2000.

For the role, Bana shaved his head and gained thirty pounds"Chopping & Changing". Who Weekly. October 22 2001. and spent two days with Read to perfect his mimicry. During filming he arrived on set at four in the morning and spent five hours being covered in Read's trademark tattoos. Given a limited release outside of Australia, Bana's performance was met with positive reviews. American film critic Roger Ebert complimented Bana on his performance, stating: "in a comedian named Eric Bana the filmmakers have found, I think, a future star... He has a quality no acting school can teach you and few actors can match. You cannot look away from him".Roger Ebert. Review of Chopper. June 1 2001. Retrieved June 14 2006 Chopper was a critical and financial success in Australia, and was nominated for Best Film at the Australian Film Institute Awards in 2001. Bana's performance won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor.

In 2001, director Ridley Scott cast Bana as an American soldier in the film Black Hawk Down (2001). Scott had been impressed by Bana's performance in Chopper and used his performance in place of an audition.Stacey Woods. "First Buzz: The Incredible Hulk". Elle Magazine. February 2002. In the film he played Sergeant First Class Norm 'Hoot' Gibson, an elite Delta Force soldier, who has to fight his way out of a battle in Mogadishu, Somalia after a mission to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord goes awry. Bana shed the weight he had gained for Chopper and began a strict exercise regime months before filming began. He also met and trained with Delta Force operatives at Fort Bragg, learning to fire weapons and clear rooms.Mark Hopkins. "Eric Hits Hollywood". GQ Magazine (Australian edition). April 2002. The film was met with positive reviews and was number one at the American box office for three weeks after it opened.Box Office and Rental History for Black Hawk Down. RottenTomatoes.com. Retrieved July 2, 2006.

Bana's next project was the low-budget Australian film The Nugget (2002). The film was a comedy about how instant wealth suddenly changes the lives of three working class men and was released with moderate success in Australia. Bana had originally read the script when he had finished filming Chopper in 2000 and was drawn to it because it reminded him of his childhood and he found its characters to be amusing and likable.The Incredible Rise of Eric Bana. What's On Weekly. Retrieved May 31, 2006. While filming The Nugget, Bana was offered the lead role of Bruce Banner in the film adaptation of the popular comic book series The Incredible Hulk. At first he was not interested in the part until he learned of director Ang Lee's involvement in the project. Bana admired Lee for his work on the film The Ice Storm and agreed to work on the film before a final script had been completed.James Mootram. "Making it Big". TNT Magazine. July 14 2003. He said he was drawn to the film because "the character of Bruce Banner had dramatic potential" and was "a fairly non-traditional superhero". Hulk (2003) was not a box office success and received mixed reviews, with critics divided over the computer-generated rendering of the Hulk, but Bana's performance was received with positive reviews, such as one review from the New York Daily News claiming that although the character Bruce Banner is "dull", Bana plays the role "with great conviction".Jack Mathews. Beast for the Eyes. New York Daily News. June 20 2003. Retrieved May 31 2006. Bana earned an Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films nomination for "Cinescape Genre Face of the Future" for the film.

In 2004, Bana co-starred with Brad Pitt in the big-budget film Troy. In the film based on Homer's epic poem Iliad, he played Prince Hector, leader of the Trojan forces battling against the Greek warrior Achilles. Director Wolfgang Petersen offered him a role in the film after meeting with Brad Pitt, who was a huge fan of Chopper.Biography for Eric Bana. IMDB. Retrieved July 8 2006. The film was a major success at the international box office, grossing States dollar|US$" target="_blank" >^*364 million since its release. In North America however, it was a commercial disappointment, grossing less than US$133 million.Box Office Mojo - Troy. Retrieved June 2 2006. After the commercial failure of Hulk the previous year and the American box office disappointment of Troy, critics questioned Bana's bank ability in big-budget films. He commented about the situation in Empire Magazine: "It's not like it ^* was a flop. When you're on a long shoot it is a long personal investment. If I wasn't happy with the end result I'd be bloody upset, but in every case so far I've been happy. Troy could take $50 and I wouldn't regret it."David Eimer. "Heroes of Troy: Eric Bana". Empire Magazine. June 2004.

The following year, Bana co-starred with Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush in Steven Spielberg's controversial film Munich. In the film Bana played Avner, a Mossad agent, who is ordered to track down and kill the Black September terrorists thought to be responsible for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Munich caused controversy and heated debates upon its release from both Israeli and Palestinian political leaders, who argued that the film did not take a political stance and humanized the members of Black September.Bana Republic. The Irish Times. January 20 2006. Retrieved July 1 2006. The film was a critical success, and was nominated for five Academy Awards in 2006. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel wrote that Bana as Avner is "excellent as he's forced to come to grips with the morality of the task he's undertaken."Phoebe Flowers. Munich: Revenge of Olympic proportions. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. December 23 2005. Retrieved June 2 2006.

Lucky You, a romantic comedy Bana worked on prior to filming Munich, is scheduled for release at the end of September 2006. In the film he plays Huck Cheever, a professional poker player who must overcome his personal problems to win a high stakes tournament in Las Vegas. He recently finished filming Romulus, My Father in Australia.

Personal life

Family