Eric Bana

Eric Bana's chiseled face and sculpted physique have been put to good use in action flicks, but the Australian actor started out in stand-up. He both wrote and performed on the Down Under sketch-comedy series Full Frontal and briefly had his own eponymous show in 1997. Yet Bana's first taste of international fame came when he put on 30 pounds and transformed his body into a tattoo shrine to play real-life Aussie killer Mark "Chopper" Read in the 2000 indie hit Chopper. His award-winning performance grabbed Hollywood's attention and landed him in Ridley Scott's brutal Black Hawk Down the following year. He was then cast in back-to-back one-word mega-movies: comic-book epic Hulk and Homer's Greek epic Troy, playing the title role in the former and opposite Brad Pitt in the latter. While both films showed off Bana's assets as an actor and as a hunk, they were box-office disappointments. But that didn't stop Steven Spielberg from casting Bana in the controversial drama Munich as a conflicted Israeli agent. Strong reviews and challenging roles soon followed, from a professional poker player in Lucky You to King Henry VIII in The Other Boleyn Girl. In 2009 Bana enjoyed a banner year with a trio of diverse films (Star Trek, Funny People, The Time Traveler's Wife) that continued to display his ever-widening range. Bana, a devoted husband and father, lives in his native Australia when not working. ~ Rovi