Later this month, you can catch Eric Bana of Hulk and Troy fame doing his best Henry the 8th in the Sony costume drama The Other Boleyn Girl, written by Peter Morgan (The Queen), and you can’t get a much bigger change of pace from that to appearing in J.J. Abrams’ re-envisioning of Star Trek, which comes out at Christmas time.
While Bana and the rest of the cast have remained fairly mum of the plot of the movie, at the New York press conference for “Boleyn,” Bana did answer a few questions about his upcoming stint in outer space.
You’ve said that your character Nero will only be making a cameo in the upcoming “Star Trek,” but isn’t he the main villain? What can you say about that?
Bana: Well, I guess he kind of is, but I guess what I mean is that in the context of the roles I usually do, the weight is firmly on other areas, you know what I mean? It’s not one of those roles where you’re carrying the movie, is what I’m saying. I feel like I’m very much in a supporting role, not one of the main guys. So “cameo” is a way of saying I don’t feel like, as I am in this film or some other films, where you’re clearly carrying a lot of the film. It’s a luxury to not be in that position. It’s nice to be offered a part like that.
What made you want to do it?
Bana: I couldn’t resist. I read it and I know J.J. pretty well and there was just no way to say no, it’s just too much fun.
So you’re not a Trekkie?
Bana: I like the show, I liked the original 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. But even if I was crazy about the original series, that 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 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.
Have you filmed your part yet?
Bana: No, they started shooting quite a while ago. I’ve got the plum gig on that film, I’ve gotta say. I haven’t even started yet. I just go in at the very end and do my cameo.
Look for more with Eric Bana’s comely co-stars Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson before the opening of The Other Boleyn Girl on February 29. Star Trek is scheduled to open on December 25.
Thanks to Ryan Stewart for his help with this.
