Jason Bateman Almost Gave Up Acting Before “Arrested Development” | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

with Smartless, with uh uh Arrest. Development, Ozark, you've been able to. play in this very rich environment and. have this crazy. success. And I'm intrigued because you. there every now and then I get to talk. to people on this podcast who sort of. have they got to have their cake and eat. it too. And you're one of those people. who I think has had this lovely arc. where you start as a child actor which.

is not a promising start no for many. people and it really doesn't work to the. point where there have been times where. I thought should they just make it. illegal to be a child actor or force. them to go into secondary education you. know like you know I I didn't even I. didn't How old were you when you got. your first you did a serial commercial. when you 10 I mean I I it was very. tangible. I don't remember a lot, but I. do remember being really filled with. anxiety about.

uh being able to continue to make a. living in in a business that I was I was. pretty aware that it was it tenuous at. best, you know, that it was fickle. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Even as a kid, you're. uh I think you did uh Little House on. the Prairie, some commercials, you're on. Silver. Spoons, and I could see kids having two. reactions to that. One, oh, I've I've.

landed in Candyland. I'm in Oz. This is. just amazing. But you had the emotional. intelligence to be anxious about it and. think, I don't know if this is going. anywhere. Yeah. I mean, and I apologize. to any listeners that have heard me. on about this before, but um it was, you. know, my parents were my. managers, and they were they were they were making. more money doing that than what they. were. My mom was a flight attendant for. Panama. My dad was a freelance writer, director, producer. and you know 15% of.

what I was making at that time just. ended up being more than what they were. making in their in their careers. Um, and so it became an important component. to our our our nut our overhead. Like we. were living in a certain condo that we. wouldn't be able to live in if they were. just, you know, using their salaries. And so, uh, a work per you need a work permit to.

work as a little kid before you're 18. And that work permit is renewed every. six months based on you maintaining a C. average in school. And so the pressure. on midterms and finals uh every year was. immense for me because it was, you know, 60% of your grade. And so studying for. those and making the and if I so if I. fail a midterm, I don't get my work. permit, which means I'm kicked off the. show, which means everyone on the show.

loses their job. We lose our our house, right? and and and plus I was also. seeing just the churn of folks that were. you know hosting Saturday Night Live, you know, one week and then a year later. you just never hear from them or maybe. even a few months. So like I I was I was. aware I was consuming pop culture. So. all of these these sort of touch points. of adult responsibility were really. tangible for me which is curious then. why I didn't I didn't get my high school. diploma. I didn't go to college. I just.

doubled down. And thankfully I was still. doing a show uh till I was about 21 22 I. think called The Hogan Family. This was. after Silver Spoons after It's Your. Move. And then when that when that ended. then there was like this this this aid. plane of my 20s of of employment. Like. I'd get a like one job a year and I'. kind of keep my head above water, but. there was no cash cushion whatsoever cuz. I was I was trying to catch up for all.

the time I'd lost being a kid to. So I. was playing really hard in my 20s and. I'm flying all over the place and paying. for my friends tickets and you know so I. I didn't have a lot of money at all. In. fact, I was in debt by the time I was in. my 30s by the time Arrested Development. came around. And I was really thinking. at that point, so the acting thing isn't. going to work for me anymore. Kind of. like used goods. Uh television comedy. was going in the direction of single. camera comedy. I was known for multi-. camera comedy, you know, in front of a. live audience. And so I was kind of I.

was just kind of damaged, you know, uh. and especially when I heard about. Arrested Development, like here's a. single camera comedy and it's kind of a. mockumentary and it's Ron Howard's. behind it and like they don't want my. garbage on that. but managed to guess. right and get that job and it was. embraced by the industry and it was that. huge reset button for me. But prior to. that I had really really was the my 20s. were were was not a comfortable period. I was really petrified about being able.

uh to support myself and have the rest. of my career not be uh antilimactic. You. know, I I thought about I thought about. liquidating what little I did have. literally cashing out and literally. putting what cash I had in a duffel bag, driving to the Bradley terminal at LAX, looking up on that board, picking a. city, and going and just kind of. unplugging from this kind of not rat.

race, but but competition this, you. know, like every night's entertainment. tonight, who's doing great, you know, who's on your show, you know, like and I. wasn't uh and I had been. And so I. thought, well, I don't want to continue. playing at a game that I'm going to be, you know, losing every single year. So. why don't I go to like Tuscanyany and. learn you know, Italian, French, whatever, buy a coffee shop and. just start over at the age of 25. I. don't have a wife, don't have kids, have. a bunch of friends, but let's go drink.

into more of those in Europe, right? You. know, so it was it was I was very very. getting it back to Arrested Development. That was a total paddles on the chest. for me. Do you ever think you blew it. that maybe you should have done that. gone? Yeah, exactly. I mean, I'm just. seriously this coffee shop thing sounds. nice. Sounds like a good Starbucks. Really nice. Yeah, you know. Well, whatever. Lo Starbucks. Can't go back, I guess. Can't go back.