Happy Sad Confused - Jason Bateman

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

From child star to frustrated actor to a comedy superstar in TV and film and that's just the beginning of the story for Jason Bateman. He joins Josh to talk about his latest act as a director and dramatic star of hit shows like OZARK and BLACK RABBIT. Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes, video versions of the podcast, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Conditions apply, visit your local Volvo retailer or go to explorevolvo.com. This episode is brought to you by Square. You're not just running a restaurant, you're building something big. And Square's there for all of it. Giving your customers more ways to order, whether that's in-person with Square kiosk, or online. Instant access to your sales, plus the funding you need to go even bigger. And real-time insights so you know what's working, what's not, and what's next.

Because when you're doing big things, your tools should to. Visit square.ca to get started. Do you ever get any unironic fans of Teen Wolf 2 that are like, that movie, that movie changed my life? He didn't say it changed his life, but he, Quentin Tarantino, I was out in this city drinking once years and years and years and years ago. And I, I, he came up to me and introduced himself. I was like, knocked out. He was like, you know what I just saw yesterday? Teen Wolf 2, great movie.

And he started going on. I mean, you know, we ended up hanging out that night and having fun. But that was a big, like, just goes to show you. Like, there's something in every film for everybody, you know. I'm sure he would not put it on his top 10 all-time favorites. But it was very nice of him to bring out some of the things in it that are worthy of. I can't remember what he said about it, but that was surprising.

Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused. begins now. Hey guys, today on Happy Sad Confused, we've got Jason Bateman. He's an actor, he's a filmmaker, yes, he's also a podcaster with the new series Black Rabbit on Netflix, a lot to talk about with first-time guest Jason Bateman. Hey guys, it's Josh. Welcome to another edition of Happy Sad Confused.

I am back from a lot of travel. I just got back into New York last night and dove right into a podcast. podcast today with Jason Bateman. Um, this is a really fun one and surprisingly a first time visit from Jason on the pod after all these years. Um, the occasion is a good one. He is starring, executive producing, directing some episodes of the new limited series for Netflix. It is called Black Rabbit.

It is excellent. It is big time drama. Think more Ozark certainly than a rest of development. And Jason really delivers in this, um, brother. role opposite Jude Law. They are brothers who come together around a crime, around a restaurant bar in New York. Jason is maybe cast against type as the near-do-well and Jude Law more of the hero of the story. Very compelling stuff, well made and continues Jason's huge hot streak in television. This is a fun one. Before we get to more on Jason, let me just mention, as I

said. I'm just back from the Emmys, actually. Really lucky to be there hosting the MTV coverage on the red carpet. It's frankly been a whirlwind few weeks for me. I'm very happy to be back home in New York for a minute now. It was essentially a Telly Wright Film Festival, almost straight to Toronto Film Festival, almost straight to Los Angeles. And now I can exhale a little bit and get back to the usual patterns of my day-to-day life. That being said, there's a lot of really exciting stuff coming up in New York and beyond this fall for all the early word on events in New York and beyond. You know what to do.

Go to patreon.com slash happy, say I'm confused. We have a New York event coming up October 14th. I believe it's October. I'm looking at my calendar. Wait. I can't even say what it is. So this is cruel to say. Yes, October 14th.

I can't officially announce what it is, but it is a 92nd Street Y event. We're screening a film. with a very funny, very cool guest that's never been on the pod before. So look out for that. Doing a ton at New York Comic-Con. If you haven't gotten your tickets in New York Comic-Con by now, hurry up. Hope to see you guys there.

I'm moderating a bunch of really cool panels, some that have been announced, some that haven't. Hosting a reunion for Alien, for The Matrix, for X-Men. And that's really just the tip of the iceberg. I think there are two or three other panels that I'm moderating that I can't quite announce yet. So I hope to see you guys in New York. I hope to see you guys at 9 2nd Street Y. I hope to see you guys at some other events outside of New York.

Dot, dot, dot. More to come. As always, patreon.com slash happy, say I'm confused. Okay. Let's talk Jason Bateman. I've wanted to have Jason on the podcast forever. I mentioned this to him early on in the conversation, but certainly my early years of MTV coincided with kind of the return to prominence for Jason. He, of course, was a child star, but then it was kind of out in the wilderness for a minute.

And then the rest of the development came around, and we fell in love with him all over again and fell in love with that show, all obsessed with it. And since then, there's been no looking back films like horrible bosses and game night, TV shows like Ozark and now Black Rabbit. He's a filmmaker. He's an actor. And yes, now he's a podcaster in recent years, the biggest podcast on the planet, it seems. smartless alongside Sean Hayes and Will Ornette. So we cover all of it in this conversation. It was great to catch up with him.

Check out his new limited series, Black Rabbit. It is on Netflix September 18th. And, yeah, without any further ado, here's my long overdue catch-up with the charming man that is, Jason Bateman. Jason Bateman? I didn't see you there. He sounds surprised. You snuck up on me. Hi, good morning.

My field of vision is pretty shitty, so I didn't, you know. It's good to see you, man. You too. Thank you for having me, Josh. It's been a long time. There was like a period of time. There was the glory days. I feel like there was a decade where we couldn't get rid of each other.

It was like the arrested to Magorium's Wonder Emporium to Bora Bora. Wasn't there, was there an MTV period in there? I'm still working for MTV. This is an MTV, but I still have that job. Truly. Yeah. Nice. Isn't that insane?

I mean, I'm the oldest man working for MTV. You might be the one with tenure, right? I turned into Kurt Loder at some point. I started working for Kurt, and now I'm like older than Kurt somehow. I don't know. Is there anybody there working that has been there longer than you, truly? That's on camera. Not in my world, no.

Isn't that bizarre? Congratulations. Truly. We're survivors, you and I. Like cockroaches. You know where we peaked? I feel like my boondog over trip to Bora Bora. Like, can we do that anymore?

Do you miss those days? How great was Bora Bora. Couples are still there. It's waiting for us. Can Black Rabbit season two go to Bora Bora? Yeah, the guys get out of town fast. Okay, so we do have a lot to catch up on. First, we both went to the fancy Emmys.

You did your thing. Did you do that when you were a kid? Was there ever like early days award show shenanigans for Jason Bateman? I feel like there probably was. It must be. Yeah, I... You start to forget things as you age, Josh. Well, the volume of work.

You've done enough that you forget. Yeah, but it's still, it's still not lost on me, like, kind of the cool stuff we get to do. I'm not, I'm not yet that jaded. I'm, you know, like, talking to the fancy folks we get to speak to on, like, Smartless, for instance. Like, I'm constantly starstruck, you know, and, you know, and then doing that thing in the Emmys the other day, like all the cool people that you pass in the hallway on the way to do your things. there. You know, Harrison Ford walked by me. It was like, you know, it's pretty cool. How many times have the smart list guys turned down hosting the Emmys, the Oscars, the Golden Globes?

They've come, they've come calling to you guys. You're a no-brainer at this point. Oh, I cannot confirm or deny, but it's, you know, it's not something that I think we do or that we are. Maybe we're in denial, but, you know, it's just three dumbasses talking. And, you know, it's just three dumbasses talking. We're still very grateful and flattered that people are listening to that. But I just don't think we, to be a host, like you've got to really know what you're doing. That's not, they make it, the good ones make it look easy. But it takes a lot of work and a lot of pretending. And we're not doing any of that on SmartList.

We're really just sincerely curious in having a conversation. We don't really have a bunch of questions prepared. Oh, I know. I can tell. It's a bunch of goop. No, I have to suppress my resentment. I mean, I love the show so much. But, like, you've jumped into my field and so surpassed me so quickly.

It's insane. I don't know about that. But whatever it is, we're very grateful to keep doing it. So has that led to any work? Has any relationships or friendships or conversations on smart lists? I don't know. That's a good question. That's a good question.

I don't think so. I don't think so, but it's helpful for me. If I were to ever work with any of those people, I would be a little less nervous working with them because now we kind of know each other already. Like there's a lot. I still remember when I was a little kid in school, like a couple of years after I'd gotten started,

so maybe I was, I don't know, 13, 14, something like that. I remember one of my friends at school asked me like, well, what's the most famous person you've ever met? And I remember thinking, like, yeah, that's a great question. And I had, like, just done a telethon with, like, Bob Hope or something. And I remember saying Bob Hope. And, like, that, that was like, oh, all right, it was pretty good. But, like, that was it.

Like, I could only think of, like, three people that would even qualify to even mention. Right. And so it's not lost on me that, like, I get to talk to, like, a really famous person once a week. And it's a, it's a, I've got questions for those folks because I'm a fan. I watch TV and watch movies and listen to music. And it's kind of like getting stuck in an elevator with one of these folks. You're immediately on a peer level with them because here we are for an hour. Like, you've got to kind of talk to me.

One thing on Sparklist before we move into BlackRad that I've been very curious about, there's the panic that must set in occasionally when the face jumps on the screen and one of you doesn't quite know anything about the person or much about the person. Like how much frantic Googling do we not see from any of you? In the moments. I would phrase it differently. It is less frantic and probably a bit more responsible. And that would be Sean and will at times.

I'm less responsible. I'm usually just like, hey, hi. You know, kind of like what I've just been saying. I'm like, oh my gosh, this person's right in front of me. And just immediately the first questions that would come to my mind, I'm immediately thinking about adjo-weigh. to get a word in, you know, because the three of us love the sound of our voice so much, you know. Whereas Sean's a little bit more responsible, he'll go in there and like start to look at their wiki page or whatever and get something intelligent to ask.

Okay, let's talk a little black rabbit. Congratulations on this one, man. I've enjoyed the whole thing. Eight episodes. Thank you. Thank you. Obviously brothers. You guys have gone up for brother roles before in the past a lot. Does this often happen? Yeah. No.

But I was really excited to get the call. Yeah. Talk to me a little bit about, I mean, the casting is very cool because like you play a true degenerate in this. Like Vince, I mean, this is like makes Fredo Corleone look like, you know, the most responsible one in the family. Yeah. Fun to kind of lean into, I don't know, testing an audience's loyalty because you engender so much like empathy and connection from an audience. That's like one of your super skills. Yeah. And Vince kind of puts us to the test.

Like how much can we really forgive this guy? Yeah, I mean, I guess he doesn't, I would argue that like for, as far as, you know, recent references, say like the character I played on Ozark, like that, that guy did some legitimately bad things. You know, the guy I play in Black Rabbit, you know, he does accidentally kind of run a guy over in the beginning, but like it's not really his fault. But he's in that situation, it's his fault because he's, you know, he's trying to sell his. his dad's, you know, coins and stuff, he takes shortcuts, you know, he doesn't really apply himself and he likes drugs a little bit and booze a little bit, but that's sort of a self-loathing stuff. And so I'm empathetic towards him, you know, and so I wanted to play that part of him,

whereas I think you could play the character less empathetic, less apologetic, less dumb than I chose to play him, I just felt like that would be more interesting to kind of see the softer side of him. I know you talked about kind of like your philosophy on acting being like, you know, you're not necessarily the person that likes to transform for a role. You're kind of like more like, often the audience is avatar and they're kind of like subtle adjustments to make. But like you do transform for this.

I mean like you lost some weight. The look is pretty intense. Yes, it's a little similar to this. You coming back in? Never went away. You're coming back in? No, no. It's a little similar to this.

Yeah, I did a job after Black Rabbit before this, where it was a very conservative, you know, sort of Midwestern guy. So I just haven't cut my hair since then, so now it's kind of starting to get back to where it was. When you looked in the mirror for full character, was it a little Teen Wolf 2 that you saw on now? Yeah, yeah, across with Jesus Christ Superstar.

Yeah. Yeah. It was a deliberate choice to switch to switch my look up a little bit because I felt like TV's Jason Bateman would not really be that that's a different type of drug addict and alcoholic, you know, on screen, you know, you wouldn't, like, is it, is that really Vince now? Vince probably doesn't really go to a hairdresser or, you know, he probably doesn't shave that much. So what does that guy look like? So I just didn't shave. I cut my hair for nine months leading up to that thing. And then by the time it got up to shooting, I was like, well, maybe I just won't shape it at all and just go with nothing.

And that was helpful for me each morning to kind of remind myself what I look like to the outside world. It allowed me to do less sort of faking and acting, which is kind of the goal. And now you know what happens in like the post-apacop the landscape when like, you know, all the tools of mankind are gone and just let yourself go. It's events. You turn it to Vince, basically. Right. Or you get stuck on an island like Tom Hanks. Exactly. This is your castaway, basically. Right. My sense is even look at your worst days way back in the day, you probably presented better than this guy. This guy like is like manifesting the inner turmoil on the outside.

Am I safe to say like back in the day, even if you were a mess on the inside, you kind of were able to kind of present better? Yeah, I mean, I'm a professional liar, you know. I mean, that's what we do as actors, you know. So, yeah, I knew how to take a shower and comb my hair, for sure, yeah. But I still, I wasn't like, I was never Vince. I was just out there kind of playing, you know. Did you have rowdy days in New York? And this is a very New York show.

Oh, yeah. Back in the day, yeah. I had a lot of fun in the city. My God. Were you kicked out of any restaurants like Black Rabbit? I don't think I ever got kicked out of anywhere. But, no, I moved around quite a bit in the city. city and it stays up pretty late. I really enjoyed that. Yeah, I've been in a few cabs

during morning rush hour on my way home. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of fun. With Amex Platinum, access to exclusive Amex pre-sale tickets can score you a spot trackside. So being a fan for life turns into the trip of a lifetime. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Amex. Pre-sale tickets for future events, subject to availability and varied by race. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at amex.ca.com. The twisted tale of Amanda Knox is an eight-episode Hulu original limited series that blends gripping pacing with emotional complexity,

offering a dramatized look as it revisits the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox for the tragic murder of Meredith Kircher and the relentless media storm that followed. The twisted tale of Amanda Knox is now streaming only on Disney Plus. All right, talk to me about where you're at in the career now, because this obviously is like an extension in a way of like what Ozark, you know, started to build as a foundational piece for you as both, you know, filmmaker and as an actor. You'd been directing for a bit, but like Ozark really, safe to say, changed different sides

of the profession, correct? Yeah, for sure. I directed a couple of, like, festival films before then. really wanted to take on more responsibility and do things even more challenging. And so directing all episodes of a limited series or an ongoing series was, you know, Kerry Fukunaga had just done True Detective. And so that was, that was something that I would have loved to have done and was the plan on Ozark. And just we couldn't work out the scheduling to get.

get to get that done, so just ended up doing the first two. You mean a black rabbit, rather, if you're saying. But no on Ozark. Oh, at Osark, initially, the plan was to do all of them too. Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. And so overseeing the whole thing as the executive producer was some of the same type of oversight responsibility

and creative continuity that I was looking for as a director of all episodes. It's obviously not as much of the input. of the input that I would have wanted because other directors directed those episodes. But, you know, they hand you their episode after they're done with their cut. And then it's your responsibility as executive producer to make sure that fits in the continuity of all the other episodes. And so you may adjust some of the editing and, of course, you're establishing all the music and doing a lot of collecting to make it all one thing. And that's a, it's a, it's a tricky thing to do and something I really enjoyed doing.

And when they asked me to do that with this, I just jumped at it, you know. Backtracking for a second. So bad words was, I think, the first feature you directed, which I very much enjoyed you and Catherine Hahn. I remember back in the day, 2013. Then you do the family fang, which, like, no one saw. Like, what happened? Like, I mean, is that a learning? Like, because you have success with bad words.

It has an audience. Yeah. good reviews and then the sophomore effort like were you did you feel like oh shit like I'm now in director jail like it's it's I don't know I think jail is reserved for those that spend a whole lot of money and then it doesn't work and it costs a studio a bunch um you know family fang was a very small movie um as was bad words and um you know the the expectation was not huge for either of those films. I would have loved for more people to see either one of them, but it's hard, you know, independent films getting an audience, even just getting distribution. I was happy to

just get distribution on both of those. You know, a lot of films that go to festivals, they, I think it's, you know, probably higher than 80%. You don't even get bought. If I had a nickel for every, not bad, like Sundance movie, I've seen that's literally no one ever sees again. Yeah, it's crazy. It's really tragic. Yeah. So, so I, it was, It was a bit of a win just to get those films in movie theaters. What films get traction and end up lasting in movie theaters is a little bit of a mystery cocktail. We didn't really get it with either one of those.

But super proud of those movies and I'm really excited for people to maybe one day revisit them, you know, maybe after I'm dead and they see it, you know, and like sort of of like the canon of things that I do, oh, what the hell was that? I've never seen it. Then they watched them and go, oh, God, I wish he was still alive so I could tell him I liked it. We get there before that happens.

What, I mean, aspirationally, I mean, you're obviously having so much success and creative freedom in television. Like, you've been attached to a bunch of films the last few years, and I would imagine some of it is also based again on where the industry's at and where the opportunities are. Like, does part of you still want to make direct films,

or are you happy with the way you're doing this? this in TV. I, yes, absolutely want to direct films, things that are, you know, a big challenge, you know, things, things that carry that big budget and all the responsibility of having to be a good soldier to the people writing those big checks. So big commercial films that are, you know, artistically credible as well. I just refuse to think you can't do both. You know, there's some incredible directors that happen to do both, Christopher Nolan or Denny Villain. You know, like it's, it can be done. So I aspire to do things like that.

Doing the stuff and streaming is, you know, it all looks and feels the same when you're on the set. Right. Where they end up being exhibited is, is less important to me. I'm just, you know, you want people to see what you do. And nowadays, people are really enjoying seeing stuff at home and not crying next to a stranger. You know, you know. Just like to cry by ourselves on our couches. Yeah.

I mean, I get the convenience of it. And everyone's kind of got a big TV now. And, you know, some films, you kind of, or shows, rather, you figure, I probably got to watch this at night because, you know, it's lit dimly like I like to do. And so you kind of, there's, I don't know. It's, both mediums are completely valid in my opinion. I would imagine though, like based on what you've been able to accomplish in recent years in TV, like, they probably like talk to you about some major, major assignments. Like, I mean, not to say this is the aspiration nowadays, but like, I would imagine like you could direct a Marvel or DC movie. You absolutely could.

Like, you're directing 600-page novels at the highest level. Right. The budgets of the whole show that I'm overseeing are well over $100 million. Yes, so it's it's the responsibility is there for sure and I'm so appreciative of that trust and support and sure doing it for a movie studio and and to be in movie theaters great. Yeah, love to. And yes, in fact, I am talking to all folks like that. And as you know, things are, each thing is further down the field than another thing and you know, we'll see what you know gets into the end zone. Sometimes it's a streaming thing that gets across the finish line first, you know.

And so, you know, yeah, the next few years I anticipate being really fun. Okay, let's tease that out for a second. Were you a comic book guy growing up at all? You just played Batman, kind of. Oh, right, yeah. No, I was never a comic book guy, and I don't say that proudly. I recognize I'm kind of behind the eight ball there, but I do really enjoy what's being done with that IP. Yeah, all that stuff is really interesting to me.

Okay, so we're not going to go through the entire filmography down memory lane, but we're going to hit some stuff. If I'm building the 80s montage of Jason Bateman, you know, Silver Spoons, Tiger Beats, Battle of the Network stars. You never did that. You never did that? I was a little too young for that, but that should be brought back. Totally should.

I mean, what is peak 80s Bateman? Like, what are the moments high on the mountaintop? Were you on the cover of Tiger Beat? Did you get that? Did you get the teen heart drop status? Did you feel it? I don't know. If I ever was, it was probably lower right corner underneath the heart with a little tag with your address on there that you can't even see me.

I don't know. The 80s were definitely fun for me and an interesting way to be young. It was, I enjoyed it. It was super fun. And, you know, you think you're so dumb. naive at that age you think it's going to last forever and of course you know you forget I've got to make a transition into adult acting at some point so I wish someone had prepared me for that because that was a rude awakening yeah it was a little bit of a sort of huh um wait wait no one

no one mentioned this part yeah I no one saved my place in line so yeah we're not for rest of development I I probably wouldn't be here today when were you at your most insufferable? At what age if I had met you, do you think? I thought I was pretty cool for a long time there in the 80s and probably 90s too. Yeah, and then you get, like anybody growing up, whether you're a teen actor or not,

you know, you get humbled as you transition from being a fearless kid into being an adult where you've got to, you know, most kids happens in college when you're actually studying about an industry or an occupation and you realize, oh, I'm not just studying this because it's interesting to me, this is a path to providing and like paying a mortgage and feeding yourself and maybe a family one day. So things get real pretty quick. And that was an interesting period for me as it is for all. And as I said, Unfortunately, you know, Arrested Development was basically like getting a really good job coming out of college, you know.

And there's, there is a career path here. If I, if I'm responsible, if I stay right here on this escalator, hopefully maybe they won't kick me off and I can continue to ascend into something that can bring me longevity and job security. And I mean, it's never a guarantee in this business, even what I'm doing right now, you know, everyone's just a job away from, you know. quiet or the opposite. So you kind of kind of keep your knees bent. So in the years, a couple years before, like arrested even, did you feel like you were always one job away? Like, were there jobs that you came close to at the time that felt like, this is, I'm about to turn the corner on the top three. They're saying, they're saying the right things. Like, does anything stand out as like the one that almost got, that got away that would have changed things? I mean, I've said it

before, so I apologize if anyone's ever heard this. But like, I read to be the, Verizon, can you hear me now guy, and really wanted it. Because I was, I was, things were not great for me financially or otherwise. And a friend of mine was directing that commercial campaign and they were, they were looking for kind of a pseudo-celebrity to do it. And I thought I'd really nailed the audition. And he actually saw him at a party later that day, that night. And he said, we're going to go with just an actor. And I was like, oh, I was really disappointed. Three weeks later, I auditioned for Arrested Development.

So, you know, you think this job you're reading for is the one. You kind of have to really kind of invest creatively, emotionally into it to do a good job. But it never is. Tomorrow is always a different day, different opportunity. And that's true in anybody's life. You know, you always think today is the most important day. And you just got to kind of keep paddling. In the nicely packaged narrative of your life and career,

it's easy to connect arrested to sobriety, which happened a couple years prior. Do you connect it at all, like that you were in a better place personally, just as a human being, with getting arrested? Or is it a little bit of happenstance or both? It was kind of around the same sort of era. you know stopping drinking happened after arrested was was was going I think probably into the second year or something like that but definitely had I not had

this incredible job and and you know life raft sent my way I it would have been maybe a little bit harder to you know I mean I had something to wake up for in the morning you know like I get it I've still got friends that you know enjoy partying a great deal and they don't have to get up in the morning for something and so I get it you know stay up later and you know it but I had a real good reason to get up early and have a clear head and and you know I was into a great relationship with my now wife and things were I had just kind of done what I planned to do as a as a kid as a

got it out of your system to a degree 20s and it really was time to turn the and do the things I really wanted to do as an adult. And fortunately, those things were coming. I wanted to have a career. I wanted to be a husband. I wanted to be a father. And those things happened right there in those years. And it would have just been foolish to hold on to something else

that was part of the old. It was like that was part of my senior year curriculum and it was time to be a freshman in the next phase of my life. And so you've done that class. you've done that class. Yeah, you know. Does Arrested feel like a daily part of your life to this day? Do you get the same frequency of people quoting you lines of referencing the Bluth family,

the banana stand? I mean, as recently as maybe five, six years ago, there was still a little bit of that. But not so much anymore. I mean, really just Will Arnett is really the the daily connections for me. Yeah. Yeah. Will and I are, you know, best of friends. And that's, that's still, that, that's the daily connection to that that still exists in my life. Do any specific references, quotes that when people bring up, bring a smile to your face? Like, are there, like, things that people can bring up that key into, like, a particularly happy memory from arrested? I mean, anything and everything associated with it gives me a smile. It was, it was a really, I mean, for all the reasons we've been talking about, it was a great memory.

But then just the work that we were doing, that, you know, those scripts were hilarious. And those actors, every one of them were incredible at what they were doing. And, you know, it's like sitting there, when someone tells you a joke and you laugh your ass off, you kind of want that moment to, and that moment was there at least once an hour, every hour every day and so it was it was just an absolute gift what's the funniest thing you ever saw will do to your face on that show um was there a run was there like a day in particular that jumps out of like this guy is next level in terms of what he can do I feel like I don't know when I I had no I mean

I did audition with him so I got a sense of how he was going to play the But I seem to write, like, in the first episode, we have this scene where I, he rides up on his segue and, uh, and I say something like, you know, how's it going? How's it been going? Because I guess I haven't seen him my brother for a while. And he just looks down at the segue. He's like, pretty good. You know, like, so, you know, he's, his take on everything was just super confident, super arrogant, but an absolute clown. You know, like, you know, he's, his take on everything was just super confident, super arrogant. But an absolute clown. Yes. It's that classic Will Ferrell mode. Like, it's the overconfident. And he's just a huge blind spot. Yeah. You know, which takes a great deal of acting talent to pull off.

Yeah. We absolutely no winking. And Will's just an incredible actor, both wills. Luckily, like, this run of, like, great work both on TV and film would coincide with this great era of, like, comedy and film, which sadly we're not in right now. It's just insane. I hope it comes back. Can we agree Game Night now?

is a masterpiece. Game Night's amazing. Yeah, I have not seen it for a while. Really? I remember it being pretty great. Those guys did a really, really good job directing that movie and writing it. I feel badly sometimes because I've done a lot with Jesse Blevins in recent years. And it's like there's so much to talk to him about his career.

All I want to talk to him about is Gary. Oh, really? Like it's just... Yeah, here his new film is incredible. It is. He's unbelievable in it. That Yorgos Lanthamas. What a filmmaker.

Yeah, that movie, People absolutely love it and I don't blame them. And it was an incredible, incredibly fun thing to do. I was really glad that we got a lot of the night shooting out of the way because I was going to direct that for a long time. I developed that script and we needed a rewrite on it. And I asked John and Jonathan to do the rewrite. And they were like, we're really just writing things we direct now.

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See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly. At this point, greater satisfaction in dramatic work versus comedy work. I mean, like, you were so known for so long as comedy guy. Like, it's just like we take you for granted that you can do that. I don't know. Is there a sense of satisfaction when Ozark hits and now Black Rabbit, that, like, you're still showing new colors to audiences or what?

Yeah. I mean, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't, you know, somewhat interested in trying to prove to myself that I can do the other and maybe try to, you know, show the audience that I can be believable with the other as well. And that did feel good for it to be embraced on Ozark. That was I was very flattered that people bought it. And once again, with Black Rabbit, it was, you know, it's another thing that, you know, I wasn't trying to prove anything, but I really, it was really fed by directing. You know, I, the things that I love as a director, the things I like to do as a director are, I have a lot to do with all the other departments except acting, you know, camera,

lighting, production design, editing, composing, like all the other departments you don't get to play with as an actor. And so when you're doing a drama, particularly something scary or violent or criminal, there is a bit more of a demand on those other departments than maybe you'd find in a comedy film. And so... We'll find it in the edits. We'll kind of do that.

There's a little bit of that sense in comedy sometimes. And kind of you've got to turn on all the lights and you've got to make sure that, you know, you're here instead of over here to make people laugh. And I don't really agree with all of that, but that's the way people are used to seeing it. And so I would like to do more comedic work now because I feel like I've kind of scratched that itch for the meantime with drama as a director. I'd like to direct a comedy film.

I mean, I enjoyed doing that with bad words. You know, like that was all the colors were desaturated in that and it was long lens. And it was, you know, we played with grain and lighting and music. Like it didn't really look like a comedy. still made people laugh. So it definitely can be done. I'm certainly not the first person to do it, but I look forward to directing a comedy and have it look a little bit better than it needs to. And John and Jonathan did that with Game Night. We talked a lot about look and feel and, you know, they're big fans of David Fincher. We talked about him a lot on that. And, you know, they had a couple

of moves in there that were Fincher-esque, you know, or, you know, some of the composition that they were talking about there. And so it can be done, and I look forward to doing it. I think of someone, like, honestly, like, on the same shelf as you, someone like Stiller, Stiller who, like, approaches, like, Tropic Thunder is a very well-made film. All of his films are impeccably made. Yeah, he's an incredible director.

Yeah, it's just taste. It doesn't cost any more money. It's just, it's just tastes. And you can, I think the audience would love to laugh with a film or show and have it look a little better than what is typical.

Do you have to audition anymore? Are your audition days over? Do you remember the last time you had to audition, Jason? I don't, to be honest. It's probably been a minute, I would imagine. Yeah, but it's somewhat helpful. I mean, I'm not asking...

To prove to yourself that you're capable of it, or what? No, it's for the director to see what your version of this character is going to be before it's too late. You know, because if it's an offer, no one gets to see what you're going to do until it's too late to recast you. And it's probably too late to even have

the creative negotiation with that actor to just explain tone. Like, I appreciate your version of the character, what you're doing there, but I need to let you know that these other people that I've hired, that you haven't seen them. We may have already been shooting

for a couple of weeks before you come on. I need to let you know what this is, you know. Well, that's your whole job with the director is to make it all fit together. Exactly. And so auditioning or just having a meeting with a director and talking about tone and talking about comps for that character

or what type of film is, is it a Mel Brooks comedy? Is it a Woody Allen comedy? Is it like where does it sit? And, you know, same type of references for drama, too. It's helpful to know what movie we're all in. Do you remember seeing, like, that spark, like Julia Garner, for instance, when she auditioned? Like, was it immediate, like, oh, she's bringing a take that's really interesting here that I can fit into this world?

Yes. Yeah, yeah. There's my personal preference of performances is to not see a performance. You know, some people really like to see acting. They think the audience might want to show up to watch a performance. And though that's valid. As an audience member myself, I like to see everything just kind of disappear.

And so I'm looking for people that are not helping the audience, you know, people who are the characters internally as opposed to externally. And excuse me, Julia was very good at, being that character Ruth internally and she was just basically thinking Ruth instead of performing Ruth. And so consequently as an audience member, you kind of lean in and try to read her mind because she's not helping you.

She's not thrown to the back row. It's just for the front row. And if you can't hear it or see it from back there, you might want to lean in and pay better attention. And that's... I like that. You've mentioned a couple filmmakers that you admire. Who's the one that like if the phone call, the message, the text came in, you would drop everything to show up on set? That's a long list. You know, I've got a lot of company with this list.

You know, people like Paul Thomas Anderson and Denny Villeneuve and Christopher Nolan and, you know... Come close to any of those? Have you had conversations with any? Do we need to manifest something for you? You're doing pretty well. I want to help manifest anything you want. Yeah, I mean, I've never met Christopher Nolan, but I've talked to the other two.

And, you know, they're incredibly nice guys and incredible what they do. And I mean, I literally would, I would pull cable on their sets just to watch them do what they do. Because, you know, directing is such an amorphous thing. It's not something, it's the only person on the set that doesn't have a job, you know, so to watch how they do it is, it's a very unique thing. And directors don't get to see other directors direct. Well, that's why somebody, as you well know, actors turn, filmmakers turn out to be so good because they have way more experience.

Like you hear all these stories of great filmmakers who, when they directed their first film, had way less experience than the actors that they were directing. Yeah, and you can cherry pick. from all those great directors if you ever get the chance. So I'm surprised more actors don't direct or more cameramen don't direct or more first assistant directors don't direct. Because we all work with multiple directors every year. Directors never get to see another director direct.

So they don't know if they're doing something not great or if they're doing something really good and should lean into that or, you know, it's weird. Okay, a couple random things for you. Is there an actor who intimidated you most on set? Who did you have to kind of get over your hero worship or just their manner? I did a movie of the week in the early 90s on CBS with Catherine Hepburn. And I was doing this really emotional scene with her.

And I guess I was pressing a bit. And she stopped in the middle of it. And she said, stop acting. And, you know, I was like, as a profession? That seems like a very blanket speaking of this. Yeah. And she was like, no, no, in the scene, just say it. Just say it. The words. I was like, ah, yeah, of course. So that was, that was helpful. I don't know. That was so much intimidating as it was, you know, educational. You know, she's, she knows what she's talking about. Yeah. Because I'm an assail. I do bring up Teen Wolf 2 over the years with you always. It's quite all right. Thank God it's not the high water market. I'm able to do that because there have been so much great work. Do you ever get any unironic fans of Teen Wolf 2 that are like, that movie, that movie changed my life?

He didn't say it changed his life, but he, Quentin Tarantino, I was out in this city drinking once years and years and years and years ago. And I, I, he came up to me and introduced himself. I was like, knocked out. He was like, you know what I just saw yesterday? Teen Wolf 2, great movie. And he started going on. I mean, you know, we ended up hanging out that night and having fun. But that was a big, like, just goes to show you.

Like, there's something in every film for everybody. You know, I'm sure he would not put it on his top 10 all-time favorites. But it was very nice of him to bring out some of the things in it that are worthy of. I can't remember what he said about it. But that was surprising. Amazing. Is there a gig that stands out that you were sure you were going to be fired? on that like oh my god this is this is like day two um this is not going to work uh uh that's a great

question and i i bet there's a good answer to that but i can't i probably just poured cement over the memory years of therapy have locked it out yeah okay but there's plenty there's plenty of times that you're just not sure if what you're doing is working you know um because we're you know it's just a fake life with it's a real cringy, embarrassing thing to try to pull off to pretend that camera's not there. And like we're just having a conversation

there's no one else in the room. It's like, it's a weird thing. It's a thin line between genius and silliness. So you kind of have to get past that and just kind of pull your pants down and go for it. Yeah. Metaphorically.

Metaphorically speaking. Since you've had such a storied career, I've done this with folks that have long filmographies. We're going to pit some of your projects against each other and we're going to anoint the greatest project of your career. You're ready? We're going to whittle it down.

We're going to whittle it down. It's like round robin style. Okay. You're a sports fan. Okay, we're putting Arrested Development versus Juno first. What do you pick? Arrested Development. Okay.

Horrible bosses versus Game Night. Horrible bosses. Okay. Dodgeball versus identity thief. Identity thief. Okay. Ozark versus Hancock. Ozark.

Okay. Now, we've got arrested versus horrible bosses. Arrested. Identity thief versus Ozark. Ozark. For all the marvels, we knew this was going to head this way. Ozark versus Arrested, the one true champion in the career of Jason Bateman, according to Jason Bateman, is. I guess I'd have to say arrested, because without arrested, there would be no Ozark, you know.

So, but I- Objects, yeah. I'm super proud of what I did with Ozark just because I asked for it. I asked for the responsibility. And you rose to the challenge. For the rope, yeah. And so that, that could have been a wipeout. Okay, looking ahead, you worked with one of my favorite people, David Harbour, I believe, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. He's such a good dude. Yeah, that's DTF St. Louis. It's a limited series for HBO that would be out, and I think probably January or February. That's a really special thing that Steve Conrad wrote and directed. But I've been a huge fan of his forever and a very unique writer and director. And so I was very happy to be a, you know, a soldier for. for him on that.

I'm just an actor and producer on that. I always think Harbour asked me once, this is like years ago. He's like, what's all this podcast stuff? Is there money in podcasting, Josh? And I was like, I don't think so, David. And then like the next day you guys like sold smart was for like a gazillion dollars.

Licensed. Okay, sorry. Yeah, it's shocking, but grateful. I've heard you talk about like next act, maybe coming here to do some theater at some point. That would be great. Yeah. I mean, my 13-year-old still got to get through school,

and once she is off into college, then Amanda and I can kind of go wherever we want. And the East has always been a place. I'd love to come back to it, born here, but left when I was super young. I would, I'd love to do theater. Some of my friends have done really incredible work on stage, and I really, I'd love to do that

and maybe do more of kind of what you're doing, you know, Like, you know, we were talking before we started about, you know, how great that show Charlie Rose was, you know, and how he brought, you know, really interesting people together to talk about what they do. And I guess we're doing a little bit on that on the smart list, but, you know, it's a lot of actors talking about actor stuff. But, you know, that show talked about different people in different industries a bit more. And that would be a really interesting thing to just, just for my own personal edification. Well, I know, like, the whole other part of your life you always talk about is, like, you spend all your time basically watching MSNBC. Like, you're a political junkie. So, like, I would imagine there's a whole part of your brain that's unexplored professionally.

Yeah, I never went to college. And so I would like to sort of selfishly educate myself sitting across a wood table surrounded by Duveteen. I can help make that dream come true. Okay, we're going to end with the happy second fuse profoundly random questions, Jason. You ready? Yeah. Dogs or cats? Dogs.

Dogs. What do you collect, if anything? I collect baseballs. Like, game used? Yeah, they're not significant ones in boxes. Okay. But yeah, I've got a bunch of them sitting around that house. How many of you caught or stolen from shoulder?

I caught two foul balls in my life, which is pretty good. I trade one of them in for a hole in one in golf, which I still haven't gotten, but equally rare. Amazing. Favorite video game of all time? It would be a stand-up one, because I'm an old guy. Probably Pac-Man, I put in a lot of time there and got pretty far. I think like a 14th key, I think, was... You need to talk to your dad to figure out what that means, basically, yeah.

This is the Dakota Johnson Memorial Question. She asked me this. Would you rather have a mouthful of bees or one being your butt? I was just going to say something that would have been your client. clip, but I'm not going to give it to you. But you say Dakota Johnson, I've got to say Splitsville is a so funny. Fucking great movie. I agree.

That's a great movie. People sleeping on that one, check it out. Yeah. I guess it was not a not, I don't want bees in the mouth. That would, that would hurt a lot and could potentially kill you. So I'd take the other. Okay. What's the wallpaper on your phone?

My two girls. Mm-hmm. Last actor you were mistaken for? Probably Jerry O'Connell. You know. Sure. Yeah. Worst noted director has ever given you.

Uh, less. How'd you take that? To heart. I drive my eye and did another take. Yeah, that's it. It's false. Yeah, once I became a director, I figured out how to give that note in a much kinder way. How do you do it? Give it to me. I've just gone too big in a take. What would you say to me?

I can't reveal my secret, but rest assured, the proper note lives in instilling confidence in the actor. Right. You know, you're going to figure out how to get them to... Start with something positive and then... Yeah, you know, it's... you lose an actor's confidence, you're going to have an even worse take next. Yeah, and then finally in the spirit of happy, say I confused. An actor who always makes you happy, you see them on screen, you're instantly in a better mood. Will Ferrell. Movie that makes you sad.

Well, in light of today's tough news, ordinary people. Redford. Yeah, best. What a great one of them. And a food that makes you confused, Jason, you don't get it. Yokey. You know, like the pit potato nuky. What is it?

Is it pasta? Is it a vegetable? Is it, how are we spelling that? How are we going to pronounce that without making me cringe? So it's about the word and what it is? The whole thing is wipe out. Yeah. Forget it.

Let's have pasta or let's have vegetables. You just haven't met the right Nyoki in your life yet. Stop saying the word. Yoki. Congratulations on Black Rabbit. First time guest in the podcast. I only took 11 years to get you on. Let's not make it another 11.

Let's, yeah. We've got to get a video component on our podcast. That's where the real money is. You guys make a gazillion dollars. Well. You're doing video anyway on Zoom. Just turn it on. I know, right?

Maybe. You thinking about it? Do people want to watch a quad split? I want to watch your quad split. Sounds wrong. Keep it clean, Josh. It's good to see you. Ledy. Congratulations of Black Rather.

You too. Thank you. And you as well. Thanks for the time today. And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Remember to review, write, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person.

I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. Goodbye, summer movies, hello fall. I'm Anthony Devaney. And I'm his twin brother, James. We host Raiders of the Lost Podcast, the Ultimate Movie Podcast, and we are ecstatic to break down late summer and early fall releases. We have Leonardo DiCaprio, leading a revolution in one battle after another,

Timothy Chalime playing power ping pong in Marty Supreme. Let's not forget Emma Stone and Jorgos Lanthamos' Bougonia. Dwayne Johnson, he's coming for that Oscar. In The Smashing Machine, Spike Lee and Denzel teaming up again, plus Daniel DeLuis's return from retirement. There will be plenty of blockbusters to chat about, too. Tron Ares looks exceptional, plus Mortal Kombat too, and Edgar writes, the running man starring Glenn Powell.

Search for Raiders of the Lost Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.