When Eric Bana worked with his three acting heroes in three years: “It’s just insane, that run”
It felt like you couldn’t go to the cinema in the 2000s without seeing Eric Bana on your screen.
The heartthrob worked with some of the biggest directors of the age, from Ridley Scott to JJ Abrams to Steven Spielberg. He lent his voice to a shark in Finding Nemo, participating in the iconic “Fish are friends, not food” scene, and became famous all over the world. Not bad for someone who was hosting an Australian talk show in the late 1990s.
Letterboxd user adamatc noticed an interesting pattern concerning this period of Bana’s career. He created a list on the film-logging site called ‘Eric Bana is having some unsolved daddy issues, but hey, his father is portrayed by a Screen Legend’, which features three films released between 2003 and 2007: Hulk, Troy, and Lucky You.
When Letterboxd got the chance to interview Bana, they brought up this incredible list. They were particularly interested in Lucky You, in which his character’s father was played by the great Robert Duvall. “He is one of my acting heroes, if not my favourite actor of all time,” he admitted, “So to get that opportunity, man, was I pinching myself. That was one of my career highlights… Being able to watch him work, watch him just turn up and be so on point at the age he was at that point, I was just in awe. It was effortless working with him.”
Lucky You was directed by Curtis Hanson and stars Bana as the improbably-named Huck Cheever, a professional poker player. Duvall plays LC Cheever, another gambler who is estranged from his successful son. The Cheevers must restore their broken relationship, all the while Huck attempts to win big at the table and maintain his blossoming romance with singer Billie Offer, played by Drew Barrymore.
As for the other movies on the list, the first is Ang Lee’s take on Marvel’s classic superhero, Hulk. Thanks to a healthy dose of nominative determinism, the Aussie played Bruce Banner, the brilliant scientist who ends up transformed into the big green rage machine. Alongside Jennifer Connelly and Sam Elliott, the movie also stars Nick Nolte as David Banner, Bruce’s mentally unstable father. David is integral to both the beginning and end of the story, as he mutates into a giant creature that his son must take down. Bana failed to retain this role when Hulk joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, handing over the reins to Edward Norton.
Then there’s Troy, the Greek myth-inspired epic from director Wolfgang Petersen. Bana plays Hector, a key figure in Homer’s Iliad. As the Crown Prince of Troy and one of the kingdom’s greatest warriors, Hector leads the defence of the city against the invading Greek forces and is ultimately felled by Brad Pitt’s Achilles. His father, King Priam, was played by Peter O’Toole. Unfortunately, the great Irishman was not impressed by his time on set, eventually labelling the film “a disaster“.
They may not have always worked out for the best, but these three movies gave Bana the chance to act alongside three undeniable heroes of the industry. “I’ve been so blessed,” he said, “I mean, you look at Nick Nolte, Peter O’Toole, Robert Duvall—it’s just insane, that run.”
