I just finished watching the most romantic love story I have seen in a long time. It was “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” starring Eric Bana. What can you tell me about him?
—Sharonn Buckman, Newton, Iowa
The native of Melbourne, Australia, 44, began his career as a sketch comedian on Australia’s “Full Frontal” TV series and worked in his native country for more than a decade before being “discovered” in the U.S. for his performance in “Black Hawk Down” in 2001. He followed that with several starring roles, including “The Hulk,” “Troy,” “Munich” and “Star Trek.”
Bana’s other film credits include “Lucky You,” “The Other Boleyn Girl,” “Funny People,” “Hanna” and his most recent film, “Deadfall,” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April.
A little known fact about Bana here in the States is that his impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise made Bana popular with the “Full Frontal” TV audience.
Despite his success as an actor, from time to time Bana still returns to his first love—racing—and proves he still has a need for speed by taking part in variety of driving competitions in Australia. In fact, he is so taken by the sport that he produced and directed a documentary film, “Love the Beast,” which is the story of how he came to love cars.
Bana has been married since 1997 and has two children.
