Best of 2024: Eric Bana on the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Actor Eric Bana returns for mystery-thriller sequel to 'The Dry'

Eric Bana is known for his comedy. 

The Australian actor began his career with the sketch comedy series ‘Full Frontal’, but he began his acting career playing Con in the 1997 film ‘The Castle.’ 

In 2020, he starred in an Australian mystery drama thriller film, playing the role of Aaron Falk in ‘The Dry’, based on Jane Harper’s book of the same name. 

Four years later, the detective has returned for the sequel ‘Force of Nature’, with Bana reprising the role. 

He told Newstalk ZB’s Francesca Rudkin that slipping back into the role felt a bit like cheating, having never reprised a role before. 

“I’m so used to having to, you know, do a lot of prep for a character.” 

‘The Dry’ was a hit upon its release, but Bana said they were uncertain whether the franchise would continue. 

“We looked at the next book for Aaron Falk and thought, well it's not enough just to, you know, is it, is the premise enough?” 

“Can we justify making a big screen version of it?” 

Clearly, with the movie releasing earlier this week, the premise had enough meat on its bones that they managed to justify its creation, and so off into the Australian bush in the middle of winter they went. 

The film was shot in a couple of locations around Australia, Bana revealed, with scenes shot in the Dandenong Ranges, the Yarra Valley, the Latrobe Valley, and out near the Otways National Park being stitched together. 

“It’s funny because the cabin that we used for the retreat is privately owned, and we joked at the fact that people were going to go and say there and want to walk down to the waterfall. It’s about a four-hour drive away.” 

Being out in the wilderness and on location is Bana’s preferred method of shooting, telling Francesca that he doesn’t like shooting in a studio, and so he rarely does it. 

“I feel like it’s a more level playing field when you’re using natural light as an actor.” 

“You know how long the day is going to be, there’s a real, natural ticking clock.” 

The downside to filming on location, however, was the weather. Filming in the middle of winter is unpleasant at the best of times, but doubly so when you’re hiking out into remote areas of the bush. 

“It was pretty brutal.” 

Showcasing Australia on an international scale is quite important to Bana, telling Francesca that sometimes it feels like Kiwis and Australians are good enough for our talent to be poached internationally, but they’re never allowed to sound like they’re from there. 

“It’s really important when you make products from your home, that’s an original story that can travel, it’s great because that's how people see and hear us, hear our stories and hear who we are.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks edb Right.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
The last time I spoke to Ozzy star Eric Banner,
it was back in twenty twenty one for the release
of his movie The Dry, the story of course, based
on the best selling book by Jane Harper Well. Now
Eric is back as federal agent Aaron Fork in the
highly anticipated sequel to The Dry. It's called Force of Nature.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
None of you've been honest with me about what happened
out there? Why are you really hell out there? Nature
holds us all too account.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
To talk about this thrilling sequel. I am joined now
by Eric Banner. Good morning, Eric, morning Francesca.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
How are you going?

Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'm really good. Thank you. How was it to get
back into Aaron Fork kind of mode?

Speaker 4 (01:01):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:01):
And it was nice.

Speaker 4 (01:02):
It almost felt like a bit of a like I
was cheating, I'm saying to having to do a lot
of prep for a character and then to get a
chance to reprise a role which I've never done before,
it clearly obviously feels feels a bit easier.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Because that is often one of the the the perks
of being an actor is that you can move on
to the next character. You don't get sort of stuck
with one character. You can kind of pick and choose
and keep moving. But you actually found it quite nice
just to revert back into Aaron Land.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, and also like having having the choice.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
I mean, we you know, none of us were obliged
to do to do the follow up.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
So when The Drive.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
Became a huge hit, we looked at the next book
for Aaron Fork and thought, well, it's not enough just
to you know, is it? Is it premise enough? And
can we make it really cinematic? You know, like can
we justify making a big screen version of it? So
so then once you once you take that leap, it's
it's always exciting for sure.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Well once you go into the bush in middle of winter,
then there you go. It's pretty cinematic, isn't it. It
was really interesting because literally the opening scenes of the film,
I almost felt like here in New Zealand, we love
our bush as well. And there were actually a few
shots whereas I actually thought, this actually looks like it
was shot in New Zealand. And I'm sure that you know,
we're all going to kind of resonate with this story.

(02:21):
What happens to these people, Tell me where was it shot.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Shot?

Speaker 4 (02:27):
We stitched together a few different locations around around Victoria,
so between sort of two and four hours out of Melbourne,
So the Danielong Rangers, Yarra Valley, Latrobe Valley. The waterfall
was out out near the Ways National Forest, so yeah,
they were quite a ways away. And it's funny because
the cabin that we used for the retreat is privately

(02:50):
owned and we joked at the fact that people are
going to go and stay there and want to walk
down to the waterfall.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
It's about four hour drive away. Movie Magic.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Well, I mean that's what we've done here in New Zealand.
You know, we've built a tourism business out of the
Lord of the Rings. You know, everyone going to these
particular site. It's what people want to do, isn't it.
Do you enjoy getting out on location compared to shooting
in a studio.

Speaker 4 (03:12):
Yeah, I really don't like shooting in a studio, never
have so I really do it, but I much prefer
I feel like it's a more level playing field when
you're using natural light as an actor. I feel like
you've got somewhere for your energy to be channeled, you
know how long the day is going to be.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
There's a real natural ticking clock.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
There's a bit of a casino feeling about shooting in
a studio. You know, there's something manipulative about being in
that environment.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
That I'm sure it's not the same for everyone, but
I find it really affects my energy.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
So I love I love being out in the elements,
and also it just it just feels different and you
can feed off that.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
What was it like shooting in winter? I hear that
there were lectures.

Speaker 4 (03:58):
Yeah, Look, it was pretty brutal because we hiked into
really remote areas. It was exciting for us as producers
because we've got permission to film places that big international
productions just wouldn't be allowed to get into because they
wouldn't be able to be as flexible as us in
terms of no trailers, hiking sandwiches on your knee at
lunch time.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
You know, like people really really took one for us.

Speaker 4 (04:20):
So that's exciting because it gives you the flexibility and
means that we can put stuff on film that basically
no one else has been able to get into these
locations before.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
And of course landscape plays such a large part of
Jane's books, doesn't it. Of course, the first one was
pretty much sit within a drought and now we're kind
of going to the to the other extreme. It's a character, really,
isn't it.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
The setting absolutely, and it's not only a character on
its own, but it does affect the drama. It affects
a character that affects our characters very much so. And
you have five women who are lost.

Speaker 4 (04:57):
We have a ticking an element of a ticking clock
because there's a storm coming and it's already quite quite
cold and miserable out there. So yeah, she has this
amazing sense of making the reader feel like they're in
the landscape, but not in a way that it feels
like a caricature at all, which I love.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
I know that last time we spoke, what you really
enjoyed about the driver has been able to work at
home in Australia. Do you enjoy being able to showcase
Australia and to drive these Australian films? Is that important
to you?

Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah, it's definitely.

Speaker 4 (05:38):
Not like a I don't have like a sort of
quota or sort of number in my head that I
feel like I should be doing. I think the best
thing I can possibly do is just do the greatest
possible work I can when I do work here, because
I really want our films to travel. And I'm sure
as a New Zealander you probably feel the same way.
It's like, we're good enough for our talent to be

(06:01):
poached internationally all the time, writers, directors, actors in particular,
but ever ever allow anyone to sound like they're from there, right,
You know, Australians and New Zealanders don't appear any international
stories on screen.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
We just don't.

Speaker 4 (06:19):
So it's really important that when you make product from
your home that's an original story, that if that can travel,
it's great because that's how people see and hear us,
hear our stories and hear who we are.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
You're so yeah, you're so right. My daughter was watching
Grey's Anatomy and Martin Hinderson, new Zealand actor, turned up
in it, and she tuned to me and she said,
what accent is he speaking? He sounds really bizarre, and
I'm like, that's a New Zealand accent. He was allowed
to keep his accent and she was so taken back.
She didn't know what it was for. In the context
of you know, this American show.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
Yeah, yeah, it's very true, and it's kind of bizarre.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
I mean, you think of how many.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
Stories have been written about a dinner party where there's
twelve people.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
There's just never in Australian never, never, never, never.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
And Ozzie's a great at dinner parties.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
We are We're the best. I'm sure you are too.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Absolutely your friend Deboray Furnace in the film. I know
that you've been friends for decades, but this is the
first time that you've worked together. Is that right?

Speaker 3 (07:21):
It is? It felt bizarre at first, like to be
on set.

Speaker 4 (07:25):
I remember the first day we had a scene together thinking,
I guess we're not talking parenting today, you know. It
was just we've got some lines to do here, and
it's the first time in my life that I've worked
with someone who I've been friends with for a long
long time and then done something on screen, Like it
sometimes goes the other way. You work with someone, you

(07:45):
become really great friends, and then you may never have
a moment on screen again with that person. So it
was really it was really fun and unique and a
very very yeah, great feeling.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
Did you kind of learn anything new about each other
through through this? Process.

Speaker 4 (08:01):
Well, I already knew she was a great actor. I mean,
you look at her CV and her work. She's wonderful.
And I was excited for her because it had been
a while since she'd done a biggest trained film. I
think Jimderbyn was the last one. So we were thrilled.
She said, yes, we thought she was perfect for Jill
in so many ways. Jill such as kind of fish
out of water, but really really strong in that group

(08:23):
of five women, and she's still retaining the kind of
the status of the boss, you know, whilst trying to
keep everything under control. And Rob and I just love
that the premise and the dynamic between those five five
women characters in the bush, and just felt like it
would make a great, great.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Film focused such a serious character. Of course, you started
out in comedy. Is the comedian side still there? I mean,
could you or would you tomorrow do a stand up seat?

Speaker 3 (08:55):
My love brain works exactly the same way like it hasn't.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
It hasn't changed, so in terms of how I see
the world, how I how I observe people, it's still
I'm still in my mind a sketch, a sketch comedy performer.
I've come up with sketches every single day, and in
fact that the two aren't that different. It's just I
guess that, you know, drama, you're taking on a character
for a different end game, and in comedy you're you're

(09:19):
serious up until the point that the tag comes along,
So they're actually not a million miles apart. I do
miss it sometimes the sketch comedy is definitely more fun
in general. Occasionally we have fun on set with the drama,
but it's not definitely not on every film.

Speaker 3 (09:35):
So yeah, I do miss it. And I've got friends
that are stand ups.

Speaker 4 (09:38):
When I watch them work, I do my brain still
harks back.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
To those days.

Speaker 4 (09:42):
And you'd never say never, but it's pretty unlikely.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
I think. I think stand up comedy I have huge
admiration for anyone who can do that. I think that's
it's terrifying thing to do.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
Terrifying it is.

Speaker 4 (09:56):
It's also really exhilarating too though, Like it's and it's
that thing of knowing that you're solely responsible for what's happening,
that you can't blo aim anyone else, you can't no
one else can take credit for the material that you've
written or anything like. It is a pretty amazing feeling
in terms of just having that control is not the

(10:16):
right word for it, but I guess it's kind of
like the high that a writer feels when they go
to a blank page and write something down if they
think it's if it's worthy of being published. I guess
that's what stand up is. It's, you know, creating something
out of nothing.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Eric, I know you love your bikes. Have you been
on any good pedal or motor adventures recently? Do you
have the time?

Speaker 3 (10:38):
Always? Yeah, guys always have the time. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (10:43):
I'm always either have just been on one or planning
another one. Absolutely, yeah, I absolutely love it. New Zealand's
on the list. We haven't got down down there and
then in a couple of mates, but that's definitely, that's
definitely on the horizon.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Okay, So the big question, of course is I know
that you've just completed this film, but you know, we're
all just loving this series. And of course the dry
three is Exiles is out there. It's a cracking book.
Will that be tuned into an.

Speaker 4 (11:08):
That's a that's yeah, far from a definite. We'll see
how we feel about this one and take a really
good look at X. I was like, we didn't just
make this film because we had the opportunity to. It
was a case of, well, is there a cinematic version
of this that we can justify, and we'd apply the
same rigor. I mean, I'd treat that no different to
any other project that I'm considering. So I definitely couldn't

(11:32):
couldn't say right now if.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
We do a third or not, and look just finally
to finish up. You know, we love our sport here
in New Zealand. Ozzie's love this sport, and I know
that you're a since Kilder fan. In the AFL, they
haven't won a premiership since you were born. It's twenty
twenty four the year.

Speaker 4 (11:48):
If it's not our year, it's definitely we'll definitely be
close and we're on the pathway. But yes, it's a
massive part of my life. I can't explain how much
it would mean to me should we one day go
all the way. I just I actually don't have as
much of imagination as I have. I cannot even begin
to imagine the neurological changes to my body even when

(12:13):
we win the flag, Like I will wake up the
next day and physically be a different person. My DNA
will have changed. It would be so substantial.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
Hope you should tell them this. It could a good motivation.

Speaker 3 (12:26):
Are they no? Trust me?

Speaker 2 (12:28):
Eric Banner has been a delight to catch up with you.
Thank you so much for your time and the movie.
Take care.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
That was Eric Banner sounded very much like a Warriors fan,
wasn't it. His new film Force of Nature, The Dry Too,
is in cinemas now.

Speaker 1 (12:44):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks It'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.