Actor Jason Batemen, star of the new comedy The Change-Up, has been a screen veteran since he was 11. But he's no brat, he tells TARA BRADY
WE'RE NOT SURPRISED to find a smattering of Arrested Developmentdie-hards outside Dublin's Merrion Hotel. Nor is Jason Bateman, a hotel guest and the object of their collective affections.
“I get asked about the show maybe once a day,” he nods. “I’m picking up that people really liked it here and in Britain. It’s funny because it was never mainstream; if it was mainstream it would probably still be on the air. It always seemed like this unique group of people got it and followed it.”
He’s glad for them, he says, “because it looks like we’re finally doing the movie version next year. They’ve been so helpful and generous to me and to all of us on the show in terms of our careers.”
The 42-year-old is right to keep in with the home franchise. Born in New York, Bateman, the son of a flight attendant and a freelance writer-producer, knows all about the capriciousness of his chosen trade. "I can still remember my first day," he says. "It was this educational film called The Veldtand based on the Ray Bradbury short story. But even before that it was something that interested me. My father was a writer-director so he was always taking me to foreign movies or smaller, independent movies that he really liked. Our bonding was not going to the park; our bonding was working out what was good acting and bad acting in a movie and why. So when I got the opportunity to do a little bit of acting I couldn't wait to impress him."
A screen veteran at 11, Bateman and clan soon relocated to Los Angeles for work. There, his sister Justine followed him into the business as Mallory on Family Ties.
Together, the siblings formed a blossoming Hollywood dynasty to be reckoned with during the 1980s He scored successes early and often. His bad boy BF on Silver Spoonswas so popular it landed him his own spin-off series, It's Your Movein 1984. As Laura's kid brother, he made Little House on the Prairiehistory when he was taken to the woodshed for a spanking. Watching Bateman's recent string of raucous, post- Arrested Developmenthit comedies – The Switch, Horrible Bossesand now The Change-Up– it's tempting to suggest that early act of onscreen masochism set the tone for the rest of his career. "That may be the truth," he nods. "My mother is British and I've always responded really well to that kind of masochistic British comedy.
“She put that stuff on my radar before I even knew what a sense of humour was. Even as a kid I loved dry wit and sarcasm and that reactionary thing. I’ve always laughed with the straight guys. I like the guys who are contained. I relate to the guys who are responding to the crazy stuff, not doing it.”
In a world where child stars either grow up to shine as brightly as Leonardo Di Caprio or languish invisibly like Rick Schroeder or assorted Coreys, former Hollywood moppets Jason Bateman and Neil Patrick Harris have forged a middle way. Like the former Doogie Hauserheadliner, Bateman burned brightly back in the day and was the only logical choice when Michael J Fox proved unavailable for Teen Wolf Too.But the film was not a success and by the late 1990s, the actor had disappeared from screens and was presumed to be partying elsewhere.
“It certainly wasn’t a perfect upbringing but who would want that?” he says. “It was interesting. It was different. I was certainly bratty at times growing up. But that was probably appropriate in the circumstances. The important thing is I’m not a brat now.”
He's compared his time in the wilderness to " Risky Businessfor 10 years" but one suspects the rather serene Bateman was never going to lose it completely. The father of five-year-old Francesca has been married to Amanda Anka – daughter of singer Paul Anka – for more than a decade. She has, he says, been crucial to his late post- Arrested Developmentcareer.
"We're very normal people," he says. "And I rely on her input on scripts to, you know, stay employed." The couple, according to a recent interview with grandpa Paul, are expecting a second daughter later this year. "Yep," says Bateman. "Grandfather really let the cat out of the bag on that one." The second coming of Jason Bateman has seen the actor transition smoothly between indie sensations ( Juno, Up in the Air), summer blockbusters ( Couples Retreat, Hancock) and comedy staples.
Bateman insists, however, that's he's no comedian. "I think I'm a regular actor who gets asked to do a lot of comedies," he says. "I'd like to get the opportunity to do more dramas but the danger with doing a lot of comedy is that when you do something else the audience sits there waiting for the punchline." For the moment, however, Bateman is more than content to occupy body swap comedy The Change-Up. "It was a great job," he says of a movie that sees him switching between a classic Bateman screen stiff and Ryan Reynolds' oversexed slacker. "Ryan and I are very calm and regular guys. Like me, he's someone who enjoys doing comedy as opposed to being a comic. He's very funny as an actor and a writer but we're not guys who are always on and trying to make people laugh."
He hopes to move behind the camera as early as next year. “I’ve been around movie sets for a long time,” he says. “So I’ve soaked up a lot of information on the technical side. I know exactly how to use creative people to make myself look really good.”
CHILD STARS: the good, the bad and the ugly
THE WINNERS...
ELIZABETH TAYLOR
Some child stars go on to work for the UN. Others wash up on Celebrity Jungle Trek. But only Elizabeth Taylor grew up to be Elizabeth Taylor.
NEIL PATRICK HARRIS
Once the butt of a joke that begins with "Where Are They Now?", NPH - as we now call him - has cleverly fashioned a meta-career out of the Harold and Kumarmovies. His years of active service were recently rewarded with musical number at the top of the Academy Awards.
THE LOSERS...
COREY FELDMAN
The Lost Boys'star has made serious allegations about paedophilia in Hollywood and has blamed the tragic death of former co-star Corey Haim on an unnamed Hollywood mogul.
DANNY BONADUCE
You can currently catch the former Partridge Family headliner on the reality shows Breaking Bonaduceand Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling. But why would you want to?
