Australian actor 'lands Hulk role'

Chopper put Bana on the Hollywood hot list

Australian actor Eric Bana has been cast as Dr Bruce Banner in Ang Lee's film adaptation of the Marvel comic book hero The Hulk, according to reports.

The Hulk will be Lee's follow-up to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which won 4 Oscars at the 2001 Academy Awards.

Many young actors chased the title role once it was announced that Lee would be at the helm of the Universal Pictures project.

The Hulk spawned a 1970s TV series

But the casting of relatively unknown Bana came as a surprise, reports Variety.

Bana began his career as a comedian and television presenter.

He caught the interest of Hollywood in the film Chopper, a true story about a famous Australian killer.

Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read who claims he is retired from his long and bloody career in the Melbourne underworld, personally endorsed Bana for the role.

Chopper debuted at last year's Toronto Film Festival and Bana's performance drew the attention of producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Ridley Scott.

Bana has option deals on two sequels

He was cast as co-lead in their upcoming feature Black Hawk Down, which also stars Ewan McGregor and Josh Hartnett.

Next for Bana was a flight to New York where he was introduced to Ang Lee and Hulk producer James Schamus.

"He was immensely appealing, and we are lucky to have him to be Bruce Banner,'' Marvel Studios president Avi Arad, who was also present at the meeting, told Variety.

"He's a fresh face, but he's a veteran performer who has a unique combination of great strength and the most soulful eyes.

"That is a difficult combination to find.''

The big-budget production is on track for a March start and a release date of spring 2003 has been pencilled in.