Despite starting out as a talented stand-up comedian, Eric Bana first shot to big screen prominence in Australian indie hit Chopper (2000) by playing the notorious criminal, Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read. He then cropped up in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001) before channelling his anger into Ang Lee's surreal blockbuster Hulk (2003). Most recently, he has appeared in the historical epic Troy (2004). His latest, Munich (2006), finds him playing the leader of a hit team assigned to assassinate the terrorists responsible for the killing of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Here, he talks about the controversy surrounding the film and the joy of working with Steven Spielberg...

The film has drawn flak from some predictable sources as well as from some less predictable ones. Do you think that because it has come from both sides that perhaps the correct balance has been struck?

I think it's a pretty healthy sign. There's no way you're ever going to get a whole bunch of people to sign off on what actually happened. No one is going to be able to get that document so in the end we're dealing with some indisputable facts and some poetic licence. I guess I trust that we've achieved a pretty good balance. There's a bunch of facts that just aren't in dispute - 11 athletes were slaughtered, there was a response and as a result a bunch of terrorists were assassinated. How you join the dots, whether he was driving a brown car or a yellow car, or using a bomb or a gun, does not change the central themes and moral complexities of the film. So a lot of this stuff you're talking about was predictable and a healthy sign that the film has begun to achieve what Steven wanted it to.

Do you agree with the message of the film?

I think the message of the film is different for whoever sees it. Do I agree wholeheartedly with what Steven has made? I couldn't be more proud of this film and couldn't be more excited to be associated with everything that Steven has done in relation to it.

How much research did you have to do into the events surrounding Munich itself?

Some of it I was aware of just through history and so forth but nowhere near aware enough to play the role of Avner. The thing that was important to me about playing an Israeli in such a sensitive environment was being better equipped with the history of the region. Growing up in Australia, Middle East politics and history wasn't something we studied at school. So that was the area I really wanted to concentrate on because it was important to me, personally, and I felt that it would affect the character. But the more you know, the more it helps affect the final outcome.

Did you ever get to meet the real Avner?

I was able to meet with him and he was very generous to me. It was extremely beneficial because you can always learn some things that are not on the page or not expressed - things that he might say, or things that he might not say. In the end, you can never have too much information, or too many thoughts or instincts. It all sits in your subconscious, so being able to meet with him was very, very interesting.

It looked like a very physically and emotionally draining film to make. What kind of effect did it have on you?

It was. I don't like to come at my character from some really technical place. I always find that 90% of the performance, for me, is about what comes from inside. I'm not really interested in manufacturing those things, they have to be very real so it's about finding those places and the character was very taxing but also very rewarding. Steven [Spielberg] creates an incredible working environment. We were shooting a 170-page script in three months. For him, that's not unusual but the beauty of that for me was that I was able to get into a zone and maintain that zone for the duration of the film. I was very depressed at the end of the film that we'd actually finished and that it was all coming to an end because it was just the most incredible experience. He works with an unbelievable crew of people. They are like a football team. You arrive and you feel like you better step up to the job because you're on the field with the greatest team in filmmaking, arguably, because they work together all the time.

Did Steven Spielberg ever talk to you about how he saw the context of the story and what his take was on it?

I always knew that this was a very passionate project for Steven and one that was very close to his heart and that he felt very, very strongly about. So it was obviously very important that the film be balanced and challenging and I think that was the priority. On a day-to-day basis we never really spoke in broad brush strokes about this is where the film is going to end up, or this is exactly what it's going to be. He's very instinctual and on a daily basis was just responding to what was occurring on the set.

When terrorist incidents took place in Israel during the filming did you feel any empathy with the Israeli or Palestinian sides?

There were a lot of moments. We were filming when the London bombings were occurring, for instance, so that was obviously very poignant because we had a predominantly British crew. It gets to a point, though, where you are so consumed by what you are doing on this daily basis that you almost can't afford to take on what's occurring in the outside world. That may sound incredibly naive but you would not have the movie you have if we'd been distracted by events that were occurring outside the confines of our sets every day. So me personally, no you can't take it on and you can't consider it. You have flashes or moments when you occasionally catch a minute of the news and go "oh my God" but that only spurs you on. If you're lucky enough to be involved in a film that's about something very real and that you hope will continue to hold up in 20 years' time it just gives you more energy and makes it feel all the more worthwhile.

One of the more challenging scenes comes when you're making love to your wife that is set against the background of the killings of the actual Israeli athletes. Was that one of the toughest scenes to do?

There were at least a dozen really difficult scenes in the film but that's essentially what you live for as an actor. The one you mention was tough in some ways and not in others. It's weird but I wasn't the least bit perturbed by it, or the least bit concerned. I think it was a very brave scene and just another example of how brave Steven is as a filmmaker.

But do you think it borders taste?

Not for me it doesn't. I thought it was an incredibly touching scene. You have a man who was finally at home, finally back with his wife in the most intimate of settings and he cannot exorcise the events from his mind. He has not found peace, he has not found any closure and he has not been able to get the memories of what happened out of his mind. But that's one part of the scene. To me, the most powerful part of that scene was the reaction of my wife at the end of it. To me, that's what that scene was about as much as the physical acts of the flashbacks to Munich and so forth. The actress who plays my wife, Ayelet Zorer, did the most incredible job. I thought that was one of the most brilliant female characters I have ever seen on film.

You have played a lot of serious roles to date but your background is with stand-up comedy. What can you bring from stand-up comedy to a part like Avner?

My background was actually a mixture of stand-up and sketch comedy. What it does do is force you to rely on your instincts. As well prepared as you can be for a character there are times in the middle of a scene where something's not working and no amount of preparation is doing you any good - you have to completely fly by the seat of your pants and go with your gut instinct. So having a comedy background helps because you're more used to flying in that area than someone who's not been in that world. It also makes you braver and puts you in a position where you very rarely can be embarrassed professionally because you've done some pretty weird stuff before and nothing that a director or script can come up with can be any more humiliating than anything you've done.

Munich is released in UK cinemas on Friday 27th January 2006.