Which actor played Hoot in Black Hawk Down?

Eric Bana played Hoot in Black Hawk Down.

Bana portrayed Sergeant First Class Norm “Hoot” Gibson, a Delta Force soldier in Ridley Scott’s 2001 war film. Hoot is one of the experienced operators sent into Mogadishu during the disastrous mission at the center of the story, and he becomes a key figure in the ground fighting and extraction effort.

The character is fictionalized rather than a direct one-to-one portrait. Hoot Gibson draws on several real Delta Force soldiers, including John Macejunas, Norm Hooten, and Matthew Rierson. The film itself adapts journalist Mark Bowden’s 1999 nonfiction book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, which recounts the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu.

Bana was already highly regarded in Australia for films such as Chopper before Hollywood noticed him. He reportedly gained the role after Russell Crowe recommended him to Scott, and he trained with Delta Force personnel before filming. Common mix-ups include Josh Hartnett, who played Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann, and Ewan McGregor, who played Specialist John Grimes.