Eric Bana started his acting career by starring in the 1993 comedy chat show ‘Tonight Live.’ He earned a lot of praise for his role on the show and was subsequently invited to be part of the sketch comedy series ‘Full Frontal’ which proved to be a breakthrough in his career. Eric remained on the show for four years during which he recorded his first comedy album named ‘Out of Bounds’ in 1994. He also launched his own sketch comedy series, ‘The Eric Show,’ in 1996. The show ran for eight episodes and was eventually canceled after it failed to generate good ratings.
In 1997, Eric Bana received the ‘Logie Award’ (Most Popular Comedy Personality) for his performance in ‘Full Frontal.’ Around the same time, he made his movie debut by playing the role of ‘Con Petropoulous’ in the comedy-drama film ‘The Castle.’ The movie went on to become a critical and commercial success. In 1999, Eric Bana appeared on the medical drama series ‘All Saints.’
In 2000, Eric appeared in the Andrew Dominik-directed crime drama film ‘Chopper,’ where he portrayed the role of Mark ‘Chopper’ Read. For his performance, Eric Bana was awarded ‘Best Actor in a Leading Role’ by the ‘Australian Film Institute.’ He returned to television in 2001 with the soap opera series ‘Something in the Air.’ In the same year, Bana hogged the limelight for his performance in the war film ‘Black Hawk Down,’ where he portrayed Norm “Hoot” Gibson. In 2003, he starred in the superhero film ‘Hulk,’ where he played the lead character. That same year, Bana lent his voice in the animated movie ‘Finding Nemo’ which marked his debut as a voice actor.
Between 2004 and 2008, Eric Bana appeared in many successful movies, including ‘Troy’ (2004), ‘Munich’ (2005), and ‘Romulus, My Father’ (2007) for which he was again awarded the ‘Best Actor in a Leading Role’ by the 'Australian Film Institute.’ In 2008, he appeared in a single movie named ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ where he played ‘Henry VIII.’
The year 2009 saw the release of the sci-fi/action movie ‘Star Trek,’ where Eric portrayed the character of ‘Captain Nero.’ The movie became a massive box office hit and even earned an ‘Academy Award’ for ‘Best Makeup.’ Eric Bana also appeared in two other movies that year namely, ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ and ‘Funny People.’ In 2011, Eric played the role of ’Erik Heller’ in the action/thriller movie ‘Hanna.’
In 2013, Eric starred in the biographical war film ‘Lone Wolf’ where he was seen playing the role of Lieutenant Commander ‘Erik S. Kristensen.’ The film met with critical and commercial success and even received two ‘Oscar’ nominations. In 2016, Bana appeared as ‘Frank Bonneville’ in the satirical comedy film ‘Special Correspondents.’ The movie was panned by the critics, receiving only a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It became one of the worst films of Bana’s career.
Eric Bana went on to appear in movies like ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ (2017), ‘The Forgiven’ (2017), ‘The Dry’ (2021), and ‘Back to the Outback’ (2021). Bana will next be seen in the drama film ‘Blueback.’ The movie is being directed by ‘Robert Connolly’ and will also star ‘Mia Wasikowska’ and ‘Radha Mitchell.’