Jason Bateman credits his wife, Amanda Anka, for pushing him to get sober.
Along with reflecting on his decade-long binge of partying with alcohol and drugs, Bateman shared with The Hollywood Reporter that negotiations with his wife were the push he needed to sober up.
Negotiation with Wife
He told THR that, “Amanda and I definitely had a few negotiations about the point at which the [partying] spigot was going to completely turn off. She’d be like, ‘This drip, drip, drip is annoyingly unpredictable, Jason.'”
At that time, Anka was the breadwinner for the pair. The married in 2001.
Bateman added that while she “didn’t demand that I completely absolve, but that was sort of the back-and-forth, and I was like, well I feel like my [sobriety] ETA is six months away, but if I could land this plane now, it would alleviate a lot of the tension, so let’s just f—ing do it.”
Today, he has gone “California sober,” which is a term for someone who abstains from all substances except marijuana. The actor also clarified he’s abstained from alcohol and cocaine for decades.
Party Scene in the Past
Jason Bateman was a successful child star, appearing in Little House on the Prairie, Silver Spoons, and The Hogan Family. However, once he transitioned to adult stardom, opportunities lessened for a time.
That’s when Bateman jumped into the party scene.
“Fortunately, I was living at a time without social media and camera phones,” he shared. “So I got away with a lot, but it was definitely close a few times.”
Though Bateman never went off the deep end, due to the goals he had and friends who were worse off than him.
“I’ve got friends who had bottoms that were pretty chilling, but I was lucky enough to recognize, ‘This is probably as far as I should go if I still want to accomplish the things that I want to get to.'”
He added, “I was conscious the whole time of wanting to get a lot of these boxes checked before I became a father and a guy with a career that I not only wanted but had a feeling I might be able to get it if I just got the right job.”
That ended up being the right choice. Bateman now has film credits like Central Intelligence, Zootopia, Zootopia 2, Carry-On, etc.
Focusing on the Future
Now, with work successes and sobriety, Bateman is grateful for what he learned from his party days.
“Were it not for some of that cliff-hanging earlier in my career, I don’t know if I’d be as good as I am at the caretaking of these opportunities,” he shared. “But I have seen and felt what it is like to really not have a lot of prospects, and it keeps you hungry.”
Along with a successful career, Bateman became a father to Francesca and Maple in 2006 and 2012, respectively.
After his partying 20s, Bateman realized there were “a handful [of] things” he “couldn’t be doing” to be successful. 30 years old seemed like the perfect time for a switch.
Now, he’s stepping up into his adult life as a father, leading man, and husband.
In 2009, he told Details a perfect anecdote that reflects how far he’s come today.
“Do you want to continue being great at being in your 20s, or do you want to step up and graduate into adulthood?”
Bateman sure has graduated, and with honors.