Everyone knows Eric Bana. If you don't know him by his actual name, you might only know him by his title character name - Hulk.
Eric Bana is an Australian actor who has gained notoriety after appearing in various award-winning and mainstream and popular films, like Black Hawk Down, Munich, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Time Traveler's Wife, Lone Survivor, and Deliver Us From Evil - just to name a few.
Starting out as a kid just attending the local Penleighand Essendon Grammar School, he showed acting skills early in his life, doing impression of family members from a young age. He watched Mel Gibson in the famous film, Mad Max, and decided he wanted to become an actor. Thanks, Mel.
Let's dive a little deeper into Mel's life, career, and his affinity for cars...
Career Beginnings
In 1993, Bana made his first television debut on the late-night talk show, Tonight Live, spurring promising feedback from producers of sketch comedy series. He began his career in comedy, starring on the show Full Frontal, a sketch comedy series.
After his beginnings in comedy and televisions, he was approached for a role in a dramatic film, Chopper. His performance received positive reviews and, surprised many who thought he was a one-trick pony with comedy shows and skits.
Rise to Fame
His real rise to prominence and acclaim as an actor might have been started officially as his role in Black Hawk Down, where he won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor, prompting more acting roles to come his way.
His next project was a role in the low-budget film, The Nugget. He was drawn to the premise, as he liked the personality of the characters and found the plot amusing. While he was filming this role he was offered a big-budget film role: The Hulk.
Big-Budget Films
Unfortunately for Bana, after the lack of box office success for The Hulk, critics and viewers questioned whether he could be profitable in big-budget films. Not to be confused with the professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, of course.
Despite the doubts, he was offered a role in the controversial movie, Munich. He played alongside Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush, two A-list actors who upped Bana's credibility just by starring alongside him in the film. Fortunately for Bana, his luck turned around, as the film gained success and was nominated for five Academy Awards in 2006.
Eric's Affinity for Cars
After knowing Eric as a successful and influential actor that has starred in various movies to date, many people still don't know him as a true car lover. However, in 2009, he self-produced and directed a documentary-style film called Love the Beast.
Love the Beast is a film starring Eric Bana, Jay Leno, Jeremy Clarkson, and Phil McGraw, and was listed as one of the best automotive documentaries by The News Wheel.
The plot features the 25-history of Eric Bana's first car, a 1974 Ford XB Falcon Hardtop that he purchased at just 15 years old for only $1,100 Australian dollars.
The Ford XB Falcon
The Ford XB Falcon Hardtop is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1973-1976, being the second iteration of the third generation of this model.
The XB featured some slight differences to the preceding model, the XA, a full-size car that was produced from 1972-1973. The XA was the first Falcon to be designed and manufactured in Australia, featuring a new body that was larger than its predecessor and engines that carried over from the XY Falcon range.
The XA range was available in either a 4-door sedan, 5-door station wagon, 2-door hardtop, 2-door coupe utility, or a 2-door van body style, with the choice of either a 3-speed manual, 4-speed manual, or 3-speed automatic transmission.
The XB's difference from the previous model featured a more muscular exterior, standard front disc brakes, and an available carpeted interior.
Love The Beast
During the movie, Bana shows the central role that fixing and racing the Ford XB has had in his life and the lives of his friends. He loved making the movie, describing it as a way for him and his friends to intimately connect, like a "campfire for him and his mates."
Various celebrities have voiced their love and approval of the film, with Jay Leno, Dr. Phil, and Jeremy Clarkson offering some opinions within the movie on emotional attachments that people have with cars, whether it be confusing, positive, negative, or uplifting.
You might not have known that Eric Bana, the world-renowned talented actor, is also a car aficionado - so much so that he has made a full-length, critically-acclaimed documentary about a love with one of his cars.