Jason Bateman — Director | Biography, Movies & Career

Biography

Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox / Netflix sitcom Arrested Development (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama series Ozark (2017–2022), as well as for his work in numerous comedy films. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Bateman began his career as a child actor, appearing on television in the early 1980s on shows such as the NBC drama series Little House on the Prairie from 1981 to 1982 and The Hogan Family from 1986 to 1991. Bateman's early film roles include Teen Wolf Too (1987) and Necessary Roughness (1991) before taking supporting roles in The Break-Up (2006), Juno (2007), Hancock (2008), and Up in the Air (2009).

Bateman went on to star in various successful comedy films such as The Switch (2010), The Change-Up (2011), Horrible Bosses (2011), Identity Thief (2013), This Is Where I Leave You (2014), Horrible Bosses 2 (2014), Office Christmas Party (2016), and Game Night (2018). He expanded into dramatic roles with The Gift (2015), The Outsider (2020), Air (2023), and Carry-On (2024). He also voiced Nick Wilde in the Disney animated films Zootopia (2016) and its 2025 sequel.

Bateman made his directorial debut with an episode of The Hogan Family, at the time setting the record for the youngest director in the Directors Guild of America. He has since directed and starred in the films Bad Words (2013) and The Family Fang (2015), and in the television series Ozark (2017-2022), The Outsider (2020), Black Rabbit (2025), and DTF St. Louis (2026). Bateman was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2019 for his direction on Ozark.

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