Eric Bana AP

Last week SI writer Richard Deitsch interviewed Eric Bana (Munich) for the magazine's Q&A. The Australian actor plays a professional poker player in Lucky You. Here are additional excerpts from their conversation:

SI: You have the floor. Why is Australian Rules Football better than the NFL?

Bana: More flow. There is less stopping and less coaches' involvement in my opinion, so there is more player intuition and more duality in terms of the physicality of the players. It's just a far more interesting game to watch. It's higher scoring, and there's not much padding, so when you see a big hit, you can assume it really does hurt. I'm not saying it does not hurt in the NFL. I know it does. NFL [hits] can be like a car accident.

SI: Your favorite team, the Saint Kilda Saints, have been awarded a league record 27 wooden spoons (awarded to the team finishing last). Basically, you root for the Chicago Cubs of Australian Football League, right?

Bana: Well, we've only won the Premiership once and that was in 1966, before I was born. The last five or six years we have been very competitive but we just have not been able to take it all. It's true. There is lots of pain associated following my club.

SI: In 1997 your Saints lost the AFL Grand Final to the Adelaide Crows after leading by 13 points at halftime. Where were you?

Bana: I was in the stands crying. With about 20 minutes to go in the last quarter, I started crying like a baby.

SI: Are you over it?

Bana: Never. I'll never be over it. Never.

SI: It might be a tough sell to the States?

Bana: I don't want it to be a sale to the States. I don't want our game ruined. I want our game right here. Actually, two years ago I had a great time watching our Grand Final at a bar in New York. We threw a party for the Munich crew. We had just flown in from Paris so there was a few tired eyes.

SI: Russell Crowe proved that an Australian can play an American boxer. Any real-life athlete roles interest you?

Bana: I guess I am not of a enough of a baseball buff or NFL guy to have a traditional leaning toward a sports person. I think Mario Andretti is a pretty cool cat, though I don't know if I could ever get away with playing Mario Andretti (laughs).

SI: What kind of role does sport play in your day life?

Bana: Huge. I played Australian Rules footy when I was growing up until, and I have been competing in motor racing ever since. It is what I do when I am not shooting. Without that, I would go absolutely insane.

SI: Are you playing much poker these days?

Bana: I'm an outdoors guy. I can't bring myself to go to a casino when the sun is shining.

SI: How much poker had you played before this role.

Bana: Before the part, not much since I was a kid. I used to play quite of bit because my parents played a lot of cards. Then I basically got into it once I was cast, which was probably 6-8 months before we started shooting.