Australian-born actor Eric Bana became known as a comedian on Australian television before becoming a Hollywood leading man in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down and Ang Lee's Hulk.

Director Andrew Dominik cast Bana in Chopper to portray Australian criminal Chopper Read. Read himself suggested Bana for the role. The success of Chopper led to Bana's casting in Black Hawk Down. Brad Pitt is a fan of Chopper and influenced Bana's casting in Troy.

Steven Spielberg cast Bana as the lead in Munich, for which he was nominated for an Australian Film Institute award for Best Actor.

Bana is married to Rebecca Gleeson, daughter of Murray Gleason, the Chief Justice of Australia's High Court. Bana supports and volunteers with Australia's Mental Illness Fellowship, which works to improve the well-being of Australians with mental illness.

• Entertainment Weekly: "Bana, McAdams Tapped for 'Time Traveler's Wife'"

• Note: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.

• August 9, 1968: Born

• 1997: The Castle

• 2000: Chopper

• 2001: Black Hawk Down

• 2003: Finding Nemo

• 2003: Hulk

• 2004: Troy

• 2005: Munich

• 2007: Lucky You

• 2008: Factor X