How Eric Bana and Rebecca Gleeson Built a 30-Year Love Story—and Kept It Mostly Private

Elle

2 days ago

THE RUNDOWN
If you've been bingeing the new Netflix series Untamed, starring Eric Bana, then you may be curious about the leading man's life offscreen. He has been married to Rebecca Gleeson for nearly 30 years. Here's everything we know about her and their history so far.
Gleeson was born in Australia in 1971. Her father is Murray Gleeson, who served as the 11th Chief Justice of Australia and was in office from 1998 to 2008. Her older sister, Jacqueline Gleeson, is also a political figure and currently serves as a justice of the High Court of Australia. She was appointed on March 1, 2021.
Gleeson was a publicist in the '90s and worked on projects like The Eric Bana Show Live, Blue Heelers, and Newlyweds.
Once she left PR, she became a freelance photographer. 'It's something I discovered I could do later in life,' Gleeson said about photography, 'after my career in PR wound up.'
She fell in love with photography after playing around with some of Bana's camera gear. Shortly after, she enrolled in a week-long course that turned into enrollment at a photography school. 'From the moment I touched the camera I fell in love,' she later recalled. 'I remember when I was doing publicity, it was always the photo shoots that was my favorite part of the media experience. I don't know why I didn't pick it up earlier; it took me a while for me to find my thing.'
Though Gleeson and Bana haven't publicly shared their love story, they are believed to have met in 1995 while working on the Australian sketch comedy series Full Frontal, which aired from 1993 to 1997. Bana starred in the show, and Gleeson worked as a publicist at the network.
The couple wed on Aug. 2, 1997, at St. Joan of Arc Church, Brighton in Melbourne, Australia.
Their son, Klaus, was born in 1999, and their daughter, Sophia, came a few years later, in 2002.
In a May 2024 interview with Harper's Bazaar Australia, Gleeson described her connection with Sophia. 'I have quite a good mother-daughter relationship with Sophia, which I am grateful for,' she said. 'I also really wanted to be a mom and was so happy when my kids came along. At first, I was a traveling spouse for my husband, Eric Bana, who was overseas a lot filming, and I was fortunate enough to be with him and have the kids with us at the same time.'
Though she doesn't do much press, Gleeson has previously spoken about her marriage to Bana. 'There is a lot of love between Eric and I,' she told Harper's Bazaar Australia in May 2024. 'You get married, and there's plenty of things that can be thrown at you, and things you can't predict in life, but we are really best friends.'
She also credits her happy marriage with their low-key approach to their relationship. 'I think it's also Eric's decision to maintain a low profile that has sat well with me well over the years,' she said. 'We're both on the same page, and we enjoy a lot of things together.'
One of those things they enjoy as a couple is golf. 'I also know that what will take us through the next 30 years is our golf journey. We are both so obsessed with doing that. As a couple, we're good friends, and what we have tried to do is keep life as normal as possible for the kids. He still makes me laugh, and he's supportive of my photography work.'
On Jan. 28, 2024, they attended the Australian Open and watched the Men's Singles Final match between Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev.