Jason Bateman says he quit cocaine and alcohol to ease ‘tension’ in his marriage

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Jason Bateman didn’t fully stop drinking and using cocaine until 2004, after being married to Amanda Anka for three years. She had consistently supported his efforts to get sober.

I’ve been a longtime fan, and I was really fascinated to read in THR Magazine that the actor, who’s 57, talked about how he and his wife, Amanda, had to actually discuss and agree on when it was time to stop going out and partying. It sounds like they had to set some boundaries together!

‘She’d be like, “This drip, drip, drip is annoyingly unpredictable, Jason.”‘

Bateman initially thought he’d be able to stay sober in about six months. However, he quickly realized that dealing with the situation immediately would reduce a lot of stress, so he decided to tackle it right away.

The teen heartthrob first met the now-57-year-old actress at a hockey game in 1988, but she didn’t start dating him for ten years because she was concerned about his wild lifestyle in Hollywood.

‘I just wasn’t into where he was at,’ Anka told GQ in 2013.

Honestly, it’s gotten to the point where getting him out of the house feels like a huge accomplishment! He’s become a total homebody – these days, a perfect night out for him involves grabbing a frozen yogurt and then immediately heading back to relax on the couch. It’s sweet, but definitely a change of pace!

According to Jimmy Kimmel, Bateman’s friend, this hasn’t changed – Bateman rarely stays out past 10 PM, and when he does, he gets playfully teased with comments like ‘Good job, Grandpa!’ and congratulations.

The talk show host, 58, jokingly compared himself to someone with famous parents and said he avoided becoming friendly with the SmartLess co-host until he was sober. He explained this by recalling some wild behavior he got into with Andy Dick behind the scenes in 2003.

The couple, originally from New York and known for their roles together in the 2003 romantic comedy Sol Good, have two daughters: Franny, who is 19, and Maple, who is 14.

Ryan Bateman, who occasionally enjoys a marijuana gummy, was a very responsible and hardworking young actor. He appeared in shows like Little House on the Prairie, Silver Spoons, and Teen Wolf Too to help support his family financially.

I remember when Jason Marsden finished playing David on The Hogan Family back in 1991 – after six seasons, he really let loose! It was like he was finally free to do whatever he wanted after being so focused on the show for so long.

Bateman remembers being lucky that social media and camera phones didn’t exist when he was younger, allowing him to get away with some risky behavior, though he admits there were a few close calls.

Though he’s now a star in Zootopia 2, the actor really gained renewed attention for his role as Michael Bluth in the comedy series Arrested Development. The show, created by Mitchell Hurwitz, originally aired on Fox from 2003 to 2006 and later continued on Netflix from 2013 to 2019, lasting a total of five seasons.

Bateman built on his early success by creating, directing, and acting in the popular Netflix series Ozark. He then secured a highly profitable $100 million deal to co-host the podcast SmartLess.

After observing the industry for years, the Emmy-winning director realized that lasting success wasn’t about fame or wealth, but about earning respect.

‘I still feel like I’m trying not to be a child-actor failure. I’m still trying to make it out.’

Jason Bateman will be the executive producer and star of a new seven-episode HBO Max series called DTF St. Louis, premiering March 1st. He plays Clark, a man caught in a complicated love triangle.

David Harbour, Linda Cardellini, Richard Jenkins, Joy Sunday, and Peter Sarsgaard are joining the cast of a new dark comedy and murder mystery about a middle-aged person who is found dead.

Aggregate Films, the production company founded by a high school dropout, also produced Evil Genius, Courteney Cox’s latest film as director. The movie features David Harbour, Patricia Arquette, Ryan Eggold, and Thomas Michael Allen.

This independent crime thriller draws its story from the 2018 Netflix documentary series, which details the 2003 death of pizza delivery driver Brian Wells.

Anka’s most recent credited work, according to IMDb, was as a producer on the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show, a role she held from 2019 to 2021.

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2026-02-19 06:49