If you’re surprised to hear that Eric Bana is a seriously funny guy, then you’re likely American. Not surprised? You’re Australian.
The Australian actor started out in stand-up, starring in an Aussie TV sketch comedy show before becoming known internationally for dark, brooding roles in films like “Munich,” “Troy” and “Hulk.”
In his latest role, Bana plays John Meehan, a suave medical man just back from a stint with Doctors Without Borders in Iraq, who woos a Southern California businesswoman, Debra Newell (“Nashville’s” Connie Britton). But as the title — “Dirty John” — of this new true-crime limited series suggests, there’s something a little funny about this guy. As in odd. And — as Debra’s kids (Julia Garner, Juno Temple) learn — dangerous.
The series, which premiered Nov. 25 on Bravo, is based on the popular “Dirty John” podcast. Bana, 50, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife and two children, recently spoke with Newsday.
It’s hard to tell — at first — if this guy you play is genuinely creepy or just misunderstood.
That’s definitely deliberate. Without realistically establishing a definite bond between (Debra and John) that has passion and genuine affection, we’d be dead in the water. So we worked hard to ensure that the audience understands the attraction and what Debra sees in John, so we can then move forward.
Move forward to where it’s clear he’s creepy.
You’ve got to be careful to not play it. Actors get really excited when they hear they’re going to play a psychopath, but when you play a psychopath as a psychopath, it doesn’t work.
I suppose everything he’s doing is sort of reasonable from inside John’s mind.
I don’t know about that. I think he knows he’s being really awful. He’s able to justify a lot of the lying, the deception, but I don’t think he’s able to justify a whole lot of his behavior. It was important to me to just present a version of that character that’s believable. Because it gets pretty crazy, and we need the audience to remember that this really happened.
I hear you’re a big Aussie football fan. Tell me — what could the NFL learn from you Aussies and your “footy?”
I used to struggle with your game, I actually really enjoy watching it now. I think both sides could learn a bit from each other. The one thing I notice when I watch your game is you never have any shots of the crowd. I don’t know if it’s because the game is so commercialized that that kind of casual air has gone away. We do a lot of close-ups of our crowd. That’s part of the game. I always feel weird when I watch an American sport — there’s a crowd there, so why aren’t we seeing them? It’s weird. It sort of dehumanizes it. They give you wide shots and, in baseball, they do that stupid “kiss cam.” But we really, really, really embrace the crowd. That’s something that American sport doesn’t seem to do.
And what can you learn from us?
Hmmm … we have the same issue with concussions as the NFL. I feel like maybe the NFL is slightly more aggressive dealing with that. We don’t wear pads and helmets. And it’s a 360-degree game. You can be mowed down from all directions. And we have an inherent machismo thing — we laud players who run into oncoming traffic at full speed. That’s heroic instead of pretty … pretty insane.
