Bana plays Henry VIII in 'Boleyn Girl'

Leader-Telegram / The Philadelphia Inquirer / Article By Steven Rea / Eric Bana picture is clickable.

The Henry VIII that we see in "The Other Boleyn Girl" is a pretty piggy chap. Wed to Catherine, who can't deliver a male heir, the king of England struts around in search of a mistress. Enter Mary Boleyn, a nobleman's daughter. The monarch and the mistress bed, and a child is born.

And at the very moment Mary is in labor, along comes her saucy sister, Anne, who has been teasing and toying with the king's affections all along. Then and there, she offers herself to the Tudor titan.

"When you read this stuff on the page, you think, my God, how can he do this?" says Eric Bana, who plays Henry.

"You know, it's very melodramatic, and trying to make all of that stuff believable is a challenge," says the Australian, who stars opposite a couple of other non-Brits - Scarlett Johansson (as Mary) and Natalie Portman (Anne) - in the Justin Chadwick-directed period drama. "To make it believable that right at that point in time he's going to walk away from his son who's just being born, given the opportunity to be with this other woman. You've got to really know your character. I found him intriguing. I found a lot of his behavior justifiable - to the actor side of me. I enjoyed it. I tried to put myself in his shoes, wherever possible."

To that end, Bana, 39, read the Philippa Gregory novel "The Other Boleyn Girl." But he also took on a good number of nonfiction tomes about Henry, his life and times. What the actor didn't do was watch other films featuring King Henry.

Richard Burton in "Anne of the Thousand Days"? No thanks. Robert Shaw's "A Man for All Seasons"? Ignored. Charles Laughton's Henry in "Young Bess"? Pass.

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You can bring home this classic tale of romance on standard and high-def this June. The Other Boleyn Girl is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray on June 10. The standard disc will be priced at $28.96 SRP, while the Blu-Ray disc will street for $38.96. The film stars Eric Bana, Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson.

Based on a novel by Philippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl revolves around the ferociously ambitious Boleyn sisters, Mary (Johansson) and Anne (Portman), who are rivals for the bed and heart of 16th century English King Henry VIII (Eric Bana).

A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history, The Other Boleyn Girl tells the story of two beautiful sisters, Anne (Natalie Portman) and Mary (Scarlett Johansson) Boleyn who, driven by their family's blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VIII (Eric Bana). While both women eventually share the king's bed, only one will ascend to the throne for a brief and turbulent reign that ends tragically with a swing of the executioner's sword.

Special Features
- Camera Tests with Narration by Director Justin Chadwick
- Director's Commentary
- Deleted & Extended Scenes
- Members of the Court: Character Biographies
- To Be A Lady - Court Etiquette featurette
- Translating History to the Screen - how Philippa Gregory's best selling book came to life
- Inside the Court: A Picture-in-Graphics Track (BD Exclusive)


Thumbnail images are clickable.
Sources: MovieWeb.com and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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Source: Just Jared -- Eric Bana, wife,, Rebecca Gleeson, son Klaus, and daughter Sophia stop by a hardware store in Brighton, England on Sunday.

Klaus is 9, and Sophia turns 7 next month. How quickly they’ve grown!

Eric is currently in The Other Boleyn Girl with Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson. His two upcoming projects include: The Time Traveller’s Wife and Star Trek XI.

Clickable pictures of Eric Bana and the Bana clan checking out hardware…


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Times Online UK story by Jeff Dawson

From one incredible hulk to another - Eric Bana explains why he couldn’t wait to play one of the largest figures in English history, Henry VIII

It’s all Hans Holbein’s fault. Having convinced Henry VIII that dreary Anne of Cleves was the choicest bit of crumpet to have walked the Rhineland, the artist did a number on Henry himself. Holbein’s famous portrait of him – stern, stout, red-bearded, quite possibly about to chuck a chicken leg over his shoulder – has remained the template for the monarch ever since. On screen, from Robert Shaw’s lusty megalomaniac (A Man for All Seasons) to Sid James’s lusting nymphomaniac (Carry on Henry), Holbein’s image, by and large, has been conformed to. Only recently has there has been a little deviation: Ray Winstone’s East End godfather in the television Henry VIII, for example, or Jonathan Rhys Meyers’s uncanny approximation of Rick from The Young Ones in the wonderfully trashy The Tudors.

Now, at last there is acknowledgment that before the gout-ridden spouse-decapitator came the young buck: athlete and aesthete, albeit with attention deficit disorder. “Which was exciting for me, because I felt I could give a new version for an audience that had been exposed to all those interpretations in the past, a legitimate and believable version of those younger years, which we’re not so familiar with,” enthuses Eric Bana, the latest thesp to suit up as the turbulent Tudor. In the big-screen version of The Other Boleyn Girl, adapted from Philippa Gregory’s bestseller, Bana plays Henry as a smouldering, hirsute stud, reclining on the furs of his kingly boudoir, only a cheroot away from Burt Reynolds in that infamous Cosmo centrefold of the 1970s. “I couldn’t believe it was based somewhat in truth. I was fascinated by it.” And why not, when you can enjoy a romp in the ermine with the Boleyn sisters, Anne and Mary (Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson), pawns in the power play of their ambitious uncle, the Duke of Norfolk (David Morrissey)?

Bana is not the first Australian to have a crack at the king (that was Keith Michell, in TV’s The Six Wives of Henry VIII), nor even the first actor to appear in this specific role, Jared Harris having put on the doublet in the BBC’s low-budget take on this same story five years ago. But does he care? Not really. “I guess he’s been done so many times that one of the most important things for me was not to look at anyone else’s version,” Bana stresses. “It was frustrating, because I wanted to, but I just knew I couldn’t. It was gonna restrict me.” The videos are all stacked up at home, however. “I look forward to seeing them,” he laughs. “I can do some swotting now that we’ve finished.”

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Herald Sun story by Lawrie Masterson

KING Henry VIII died in 1547, but Eric Bana senses he is still around today.

No, the Melbourne-born actor does not see dead people, but he says the story of the randy royal retains relevance with much he does see in 2008, particularly in his industry where what he terms "a fortress of bulls---" can be built around big stars.

"What I found fascinating in the film is just what someone can get away with when they have no checks and balances. How important that is in a society and to us as individuals," says Bana, who plays Henry in The Other Boleyn Girl.

"We see people in positions of power, wealth and . . . you see movie stars who are not reined in. I just found it interesting in that regard.

"Everyone is different, but I think in this industry you can very easily build up a fortress of bulls---.

"It is not always done intentionally. I think it is very important to have people around you who just tell you how it is, but this industry does provide you with the opportunity to create an almost 'non-realistic reality' for oneself.

"Unfortunately, I am the one fool who somehow managed to assemble himself a team that tells me nothing but the truth.

"That goes for my publicist, my agent, my friends and my wife and my children.

"I don't have anyone who lies to me and that makes me feel good, because it's very healthy."

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Australian actor and Star Trek fan Eric Bana said he couldn't resist the opportunity to play a villain in the new installment of the sci-fi franchise.

I couldn't resist. I read it and I know (director J.J. Abrams) pretty well and there was just no way to say no; it's just too much fun, Bana told reporters in New York recently.

I liked the original (show) as a kid. I loved it. I haven't seen a lot of the movies since, but I was a fan of the original series, the actor replied when asked if he was a Trekkie.But even if I was crazy about the original series, it wouldn't have been enough to make me sign on to a film I didn't want to do. I just read the script and I just went, 'That is an awesome script,' and it's J.J. and it'd be a good time to play a character like that. It was a very easy decision.

Bana can now be seen playing Henry VIII in the big screen period drama The Other Boleyn Girl.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International
Publication date: 29 February 2008
Source: UPI-1-20080229-15581200-bc-us-bana.xml

sammie323, scans tons of magazines and posts the scans in their journal. One of the latest scans is of Eric in the March 3, 2008 issue of OK magazine.


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Trekmovie.com by Anthony Pascale -- Two Star Trek stars have been spotted sporting new looks for their for roles in the 23rd century. The most stark of these is Eric Bana, who plays the villain Nero. Bana showed up for the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday with a shaved head. In addition, Simon Pegg (the new Scotty) was scene on British TV last week without his usual blond look.



Leno asked Bana what was up with his new look, and after joking it was for head lice, Bana said: "it is for a secret role, as if the Star Trek fans don’t know what its for."

Yes we do Eric.

BONUS BANA: Playing villain is ‘liberating’
In a pre-head shaving interview to promote The Other Boleyn Girl, Bana talked about how he has to shut out all the pressures of playing weighty roles and focus on the character. For Trek, Bana tells ReelTalk.

Bana: "It my job to come up with a great Nero. The script is the starting point and I have to find something that is going to be interesting and fun."

...and regarding what it is like to play the bad guy

Bana: "It is kind of nice knowing that you are not the moral compass for the audience. It is very liberating."


Watch the video (Trek bit is the last 2 minutes) http://video.reeltalktv.com/player/?id=219682
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