(Left): Jason Bateman appeared on “Silver Spoons” from 1982 to 1984; (Right) Jason Bateman in 2024.Photo:NBCU Photo Bank; Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix
NBCU Photo Bank; Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix
Jason Batemanhad lots of anxiety and felt plenty of pressure to continue working as a child actor — because he knew his family was relying on his income.
“I do remember being really filled with anxiety about being able to continue to make a living in a business that I was pretty aware … was tenuous at best,” Bateman, 56, toldConan O’Brienon the Feb. 24 episode of theConan O’Brien Needs a Friendpodcast.
Jason Bateman in Austin, Texas, in 2023.Tim Mosenfelder/Getty
Tim Mosenfelder/Getty
“My parents were my managers, and they were making more money doing that than what they were: My mom was a flight attendant forPan Am. My dad was a freelance writer, director, producer," Bateman, whose sisterJustinestarred onFamily Tiesas a teenager, explained. “And, you know, 15% of what I was making at that time just ended up being more than what they were making in their careers.”
“It became an important component … like, we were living in certain condo that we wouldn’t be able to live in if they were just using their salaries,” Bateman said, adding that as a child actor, his work permit would be renewed every six months based on maintaining a C average in school.
“The pressure of midterms and finals every year was immense for me, because it was 60% of your grade,” Bateman explained, noting that he would think about how “if I fail my midterm, I don’t get my work permit, which means I’m kicked off the show, which means everyone on the show loses their job, we lose our house.”
Jason Bateman with Valerie Harper on “Valerie,” which debuted in 1986 and was later renamed “The Hogan Family”.Frank Carroll/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Frank Carroll/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
AfterThe Hogan Familyended in 1991, Bateman struggled to find his footing professionally.
“My 20s was not acomfortable period,” he told O’Brien. “I was really petrified about being able to support myself and have the rest of my career not be anticlimactic” until he landedArrested Developmentin 2003.
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He called the show a “reset button,” saying he had been thinking about “putting what cash I had in a duffel bag, driving to the [international] terminal at LAX, looking up on that board, picking a city, and going — just unplugging from this kind of competition.”
Bateman recently starred in the Netflix movieCarry-Onand stars in the streamer’s upcoming miniseriesBlack Rabbitalongside June Law.
source: people.com
