Eric Bana
I always find that 90% of the performance, for me, is about what comes from inside.
If you're lucky enough to be involved in a film that's about something very real and that you hope will continue to hold up in 20 years' time it just gives you more energy and makes it feel all the more worthwhile.
I would never say never to returning to comedy.
I'm always reading and looking around for the next thing.
I'm spending all my time and energy on the project at hand.
I am attracted to characters who think they are in control, but their situation is uncontrollable.
The movies people don't talk about or remember after six months' time don't really matter.
I wasn't going to be a college kid. The only subject I was interested in was English. I think I had a subconscious interest in analyzing story.
The more I love the character, the harder it is to get it wrong. I have to get to a point that I can speak for them.
I think luck gets you on to the stage. But it has nothing to do with keeping you there.
When I shoot I'll take my family with me - one movie a year and then the rest of the time at home.
I wanted to be a mechanic. When I was 14 I wanted to quit school and go work on my car. But my dad said Son, you shouldn't do that. You should stay in school until your education is finished, and when you're done, don't make your hobby your job.
I look my best when I take my helmet off after a long motorcycle ride. I have a glow and a bit of helmet hair.
I hate being clean-shaven. My daughter gets very upset if I shave and says, 'Bring back the spikes, Dad.'
The Israeli accent wasn't one that I was overly familiar with so had to learn from scratch but I was very fortunate I had the right amount of time.
The only thing that may make me different from other people is I have passionate interests outside of work.
I occasionally go to the gym and I lift free weights, I don't use machines.
I used to lift very heavy weights in my mid-twenties - I used to bench press over 300lb. The most I ever lifted was 330lb; I couldn't do that today, no way.
Abs are for people with no friends.Collection: People
I think quite often, being on the new set is not what you expect. The most serious film can be the most fun. The one that's supposed to be fun can be the most serious. I don't think there are any hard-and-fast rules. I just think it really depends on your director and what the general vibe is.Collection: Fun
You have to be proactive about your destiny and then realize that the other half of it is completely out of your control. I think it's fascinating.Collection: Destiny
The thing I love about working with first-time directors is that it's always quite shocking how little difference there is between them and directors who've been directing all their lives.Collection: Differences
But it's healthy - whatever you can do to keep you fresh and awake. Acting's such a ridiculous job and sometimes you need to look at it like that to get a sort of degree of freshness.Collection: Jobs
It's always hard but the reality is, especially in my case, that every time I go to work I have to do it so it's become part of the job. It's an extra challenge but it's also quite often another extra tool that you have to really think consciously about getting into the character. So while it does require more work, it's maybe even an advantage to a degree because it forces you to switch, to consciously have to jump into and out of the character.Collection: Jobs
I'm realistic about it. It's been quite some years since I've worked full-time in that area, so I no longer have any material that bears any relevance to my life or the audience. I'd need to take probably a year off, which I wouldn't be prepared to do, so it's a romantic ideal.Collection: Years
I've always been someone that sets achievable short-term goals. I've never been someone that's had a five-year plan, or a three-year plan. That just seems to lead to a lot of disappointment, and doesn't give you the chance to be flexible. So I've just always been someone that's sort of reassessed where I'm at, and set goals that are realistic. And luckily, I've had plenty of chances to recalibrate and adjust, and good fortune's come my way.Collection: Disappointment
I enjoy just being cocooned in production and it's completely different to your other life that you have. I enjoy that. I enjoy being on the set and hanging out and talking to whoever we're working with and just being in the moment.Collection: Talking
I don't often watch broad comedies and think, "Oh well, I could have been a part of that." It's usually the opposite. I usually watch them, enjoy them, admire them, and think, "You know, I really have nothing to contribute to that".Collection: Thinking
I do believe in reading signs if they're really obvious to you. Things happen. Someone will say something to you today in the morning and then later on that day someone will mention the same thing and then the next day someone will mention it again. There's a reason why three people have said something within twenty four hours.Collection: Morning
I knew a bit but we don't study a lot of British history at school in Australia. We have our own 50-year period to concentrate on.Collection: School
Yeah I was aware of the book, but hadn't read it. So as soon as I'd finished the script, I got a copy of the book and read that. My wife had read it and she loves it, so that was a good sounding board. I like her writing style, she's such a page-turner. I enjoyed The Constant Princess as well. I think she's great. The books are very popular with women and I can see why.Collection: Book
If a great comedy landed on my doorstep, I would find it hard to say no.Collection: Comedy
I loved working with him [Justin Chadwick]. He was very smart in how he assembled the people around him and had a crew that he knew very well. He was very comfortable on the set and I never felt that I was working with a first-time filmmaker.Collection: Smart
I usually befriend the camera department very early on in the film and drive them nuts. I'm constantly bombarding them with questions and going through the stills photography. A film set is a great place for me and I love it.Collection: Photography
I really enjoy behind the camera stuff and I'm a frustrated photographer myself and just love the camera. I love that side of it and that part of the filmmaking world and I enjoy developing things. It's an area that I'll continue to be more active in as time goes by.Collection: Frustrated
It's usually very, very hard for me to pick up a script that was written and try and see myself as a part of that, especially when you're used to performing all your own material. It's OK with drama, I like being handed great material but I think with comedy it's far more personal and probably a lot harder for me to find a fit.Collection: Drama
I don't consciously seek out Australian projects. I put them on the same table as all the other scripts and I wouldn't ever do a film just because it's been shot at home.Collection: Home
I was a fan of the television show as a kid but I wouldn't say that I've followed all the movies or anything like that. But I was a television junkie as a kid.Collection: Kids
It's got to be a challenge but at the same time you have to feel as though you can play them - it's really dangerous to want to be a part of something just because you think it's going to be great. I've been sent plenty of scripts where I've known that it's going to be a great film and a successful one, but I just couldn't convince myself that I was the right person for the part. So, I think you have to be careful with that.Collection: Successful
Definitely the script because you want to be part of an interesting story, you want your character to be a challenge, then comes the director. But essentially it's the script first and whether it's a character that you think you can do.Collection: Character
It only seems jarring when you look back on the work I've done. I think if you had to map that out at the beginning and you said, "Right, sit down, this is what you're going to be doing," you'd probably freak out. But I'm someone who really enjoys not being himself. So if you consider that, then it all sort of makes sense. And I just think that's the job of an actor. I guess that's the variation that you're talking about. It's probably a byproduct of just constantly looking for something different, because that's what I feel like I'm supposed to do.Collection: Thinking
Obviously this stuff takes a bit of planning, but I've always been someone that sets achievable short-term goals. I've never been someone that's had a five-year plan, or a three-year plan. That just seems to lead to a lot of disappointment, and doesn't give you the chance to be flexible. So I've just always been someone that's sort of reassessed where I'm at, and set goals that are realistic. And luckily, I've had plenty of chances to recalibrate and adjust, and good fortune's come my way.Collection: Disappointment
I've had frustrated storytelling juices that have been lying dormant for a long time, and I guess the documentary was a way of me telling a story that I felt most qualified to tell. And I loved it, and I'd love to do something else someday, probably more narrative-based. But I'm in no rush.Collection: Lying
I think if you had to map that out at the beginning and you said, "Right, sit down, this is what you're going to be doing," you'd probably freak out. But I'm someone who really enjoys not being himself. So if you consider that, then it all sort of makes sense.Collection: Thinking
I just think that's the job of an actor. I guess that's the variation that you're talking about. It's probably a byproduct of just constantly looking for something different, because that's what I feel like I'm supposed to do.Collection: Jobs
It really depends on the director. I think quite often, it's not what you expect. The most serious film can be the most fun. The one that's supposed to be fun can be the most serious. I don't think there are any hard-and-fast rules. I just think it really depends on your director and what the general vibe is.Collection: Fun
Just from my own experience, a lot of the comedians I used to work with were miserable in their actual lives. I think you need to be able to see a lot of negative in things in order to extract material, so there's probably something to that. A lot of the people I used to work with were very, very, very unfunny offstage, so that's a pretty common thing.Collection: Thinking
I always use the analogy that when you go to a jeans store and put on a new pair of jeans, it's a pair of jeans and they feel different; so, when you're dealing with these sort of costumes it's a very big departure and really does make you feel quite different. But it's wonderful.Collection: Jeans
I love working with people who have had television experience because I think there's a real efficiency and methodology that comes from that background.Collection: Real