• Home
• /
• Entertainment

Holy movie roles Bateman

The actor, best known for the cult-favourite television series Arrested Development (2003-2006), is on the telephone to talk about the new film The Switch, in which he co-stars with fellow small-screen veteran Jennifer Aniston, but what he really wants to do is locate a supermarket.

He’s calling from the crowded streets of Los Angeles on a mission for his wife, Amanda Anka, and their 3-year-old daughter, Francesca.

“I’m picking up some dinner,” he explains. “I’m a domestic kind of guy. I take out the trash.”

If he isn’t helping out around the house, chances are he’s on a set somewhere: Bateman is one of Hollywood’s busier actors, having made 15 films – everything from the Oscar-winning Juno (2007) to the thriller State of Play (2009) – and several television projects since Arrested Development left the air.

“I’m often asked, ‘Why do you work so much?,”’ he says. ‘‘Well, that’s because I’m like everyone else out there who feels blessed to work these days. I’ve got a wife, a kid, a mortgage and mouths to feed. My nut is not as big as others, but the goal is to just stay employed.

“After all of these years,” he continues, “I know enough about this business to realise how slippery success is and how fleeting your relevance is in this town. I’m still trying to get a handle on it.”

Bateman laughs, but gets more serious when asked about how he chooses his films.

“The truth is, sometimes an actor gets to make choices – otherwise we basically take what we get,” he says. “I’m always flattered by the choices.”

Even after three decades in the business, Bateman admits, he’s still neurotic about his place in the industry.

“I still think it could all go away by the end of the month,” he says, only half-joking. “If it doesn’t go away, then I really want to work with the people I respect and admire. If they invite me to their party, I’ll be happy, even if I can’t do things that are more high-profile and might pay more.”

The biggest appeal of The Switch, Bateman says, was the chance to work with Aniston.

“I’ve been a fan for a long time,” he says. “It was great to get to the set and find out that she’s not only talented, but such a nice, normal person. The twist is that she likes to do normal things like take a walk on the beach with her dogs – but she’s unable to do that, most days, because of the paparazzi that stalk her.

“But the flip side is that she’s living her dream,” Bateman adds. “She’s able to attract great projects and get them financed based on her high visibility. It’s a good-news-and-bad-news thing – I guess you would have to ask her if she’s happy with the ratio.

“I would have to be in those shoes to answer the question.”

Bateman may not be an A-lister, but he’s plenty visible nonetheless. Last year alone he was seen in Couple’s Retreat, The Invention of Lying and the critical favourite Up in the Air. Each was, in its way, a comedy – one broad and emphatic, one subtle and satirical, the third biting and timely.

Any of the above is fine with Bateman.

“I love to do comedies, but intelligent humour,” he says. “I just hope it’s not too smart for the room or too subtle for the room. I don’t think you need the bells, whistles and huge money behind these comedies. And comedy doesn’t have to hit you squarely in the face.”

One advantage to comedy, he adds, is that he can afford to pay scant attention to the box office.

“Most of the films I make don’t need to make $100 million,” the actor explains. “If you shoot a film for $6 million, you don’t have to be in the major box-office race of the weekend. It’s about finding your own audience and even taking your time to build a fan following.”

“It’s just wonderful if more people than just my family see the film,” he says.

Bateman hails from Rye, N.Y., where he and his sister Justine – three years older, she is best known for Family Ties (1982-1989) – grew up as the children of director Kent Bateman and former flight attendant Victoria Bateman. He was 12 when he was cast as James Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie (1981-1982), which he followed up with Silver Spoons (1982-1984).

He then played David Hogan for 110 episodes of the 1986-1991 show that began as Valerie, morphed into Valerie’s Family and finished its run as The Hogan Family. He was 20 when he directed the first of three episodes of the show that he would helm, making him the Directors Guild of America’s youngest-ever member.

Today, however, he is best known for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, which defied low ratings to last for three seasons based on a small but passionate fan base that seemingly included everyone in Hollywood. He then moved to the big screen for Juno – in which he played a feckless would-be adoptive father – The Kingdom (2007), Hancock (2008), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Couple’s Retreat and The Invention of Lying.

He may not be through with Michael Bluth, however: Those rumors of an Arrested Development film are apparently on the money, though exactly when it might shoot remains unclear

Next up for Bateman is Paul, directed by Greg Mottola and written by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. Bateman stars with Pegg, Sigourney Weaver and Kristen Wiig in the story of two British comic-book geeks travelling across America who discover an alien outside the famous Area 51. He has several other film and television projects in the works as well.