|
Recently Released In Theaters Reviews
The Dark Knight Mamma Mia! Take Space Chimps Hellboy II: The Golden Army Journey to the Center of the Earth Garden Party August Diminished Capacity Kabluey Hancock Wall-E Wanted Finding Amanda Get Smart Recently Added Spotlights Heath Ledger Christian Bale Aaron Eckhart Maggie Gyllenhaal Gary Oldman Minnie Driver Brendan Fraser Anita Briem Josh Hutcherson James McAvoy Brittany Snow Matthew Broderick The Jonas Brothers Mike Myers Romany Malco |
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
 Jason Bateman
Interview By: Michael Dance Jason Bateman has been working in Hollywood for more than twenty-five years. While his sister Justine was starring in Family Ties, he was getting regular TV work from Little House on the Prairie and Silver Spoons when he was younger than fifteen. A taste of teen stardom followed (the most memorable of which, for good or ill, is probably Teen Wolf Too), followed by fairly steady but anonymous work in the '90s, mostly TV guest spots. His career abruptly changed when he landed a little TV pilot called Arrested Development. It was the total dream for any actor who's ever trudged through pilot season: a lead role in a really, really good show that doesn't immediately get cancelled. "For a while there I think my name got in the way a bit, based on all of the television I was fortunate enough to do," Batemn says. "After a while you sort of wear out your welcome in that environment. And then multi-camera [staged sitcoms with laugh tracks] was atrophying, and single-camera [like Scrubs and Arrested, with no studio audience] was coming up, and no one wants a multi-camera guy in a single-camera show, and so then I was really screwed. I was very surprised to get a reading for Arrested Development, because it really seemed to be the opposite of that which I was known for doing. And fortunately that day I guessed right in terms of what they wanted for the character, and they ended up giving me the part." Ironically, the show wasn't a success with viewers -- it got through two and a half seasons through sheer force of will with 6 million viewers, pitiful for a network show -- but among fans and critics, the show was a revelation, and one which landed newfound attention on each of its cast members. "Not a lot of people in America were watching the show, but some people here in L.A. were, and they were some of the people in charge of giving out some good jobs," he says. "So I've kind of been able to hit the reset button a litte bit on who I am, and what people think of when they hear my name, I hope, I think, and a lot of that has to do with hireability. It has less and less to do with your talent, I think, I don't mean to sound cynical, but a big part of being hired is what you add or detract from the project as far as pedigree goes, and that show was very well-received. So I'm just trying to take the good roles that are coming my way. I'm just trying to perpetuate that -- whatever it is -- and get another few years of employment out of this tough town." So far, it seems to be working. During Arrested's run, Bateman landed minor roles in hit movies like Starsky and Hutch |
|
|||||||||
