Jason Bateman

Actor, producer and director JASON BATEMAN was honored with a Golden Globe Award in 2005 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series— Musical or Comedy, and earned an Emmy Award nomination and two Screen Actors Guild nominations for his irreverent portrayal of Michael Bluth in the Mitchell Hurwitz-created, multi-award-winning comedy series Arrested Development. Since then, Bateman has attained leading-man status on the big screen, and returned to his roots in television by continuing to produce, write and develop projects for the small screen. One can easily surmise by the prestigious array of studios, directors and producers that are hiring Bateman, that he is a valuable commodity.

While Bateman's starring role in the Emmy Award-winning FOX comedy series Arrested Development brought a newfound appreciation from the public, it also caught the attention of the motion picture industry and reinvigorated its interest in Bateman. Since the show ended in 2006, Bateman has secured one major film role after the next.

Bateman was seen co-starring as Nick in the Warner Bros. ensemble comedy Horrible Bosses, alongside Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis. Horrible Bosses follows three friends who conspire to murder their awful bosses when they realize the bosses are standing in the way of their happiness.

In March 2011, Bateman co-starred in the Universal Pictures and Working Title comedy Paul, directed by Greg Mottola and written by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. Paul follows two British comic-book geeks who have a supernatural encounter while taking a road trip across the United States. Bateman co-starred as Agent Lorenzo Zoil.

In August 2010, Bateman starred with Jennifer Aniston in the Mandate Pictures romantic-comedy film The Switch, in which he played the lead role Wally, the best friend who keeps a life-changing secret from Aniston's Kassie.

In 2009, Bateman completed one of his busiest years yet. In December, he was seen in a supporting role, opposite George Clooney, in the Golden Globe and Academy Award® nominated Up in the Air, for Paramount Pictures and director Jason Reitman. Bateman made a memorable turn as Craig Gregory, the brash head of a corporate-downsizing company set on revolutionizing the industry. In October, he co-starred alongside Vince Vaughn, Kristen Bell, Jon Favreau, Kristin Davis and Malin Akerman in Couples Retreat. Bateman starred as the neurotic and overachieving Jason, who is married to Bell's Cynthia. In Couples Retreat, the couple is on the brink of divorce and convinces their friends to travel to Bora Bora to try to revive their stale marriages.

In September 2009, Bateman headlined the Miramax feature Extract as Joel Reynolds, the owner of an extract manufacturing plant overcome by a comedic series of personal and work-related problems. Extract was directed by Mike Judge and produced by Bateman through his F+A Productions banner. Bateman also had a memorable cameo in the Ricky Gervais-penned and directed comedy The Invention of Lying.

In April 2009, Bateman delivered an emotionally charged performance as a political press agent in the crime drama State of Play, directed by Kevin Macdonald for Universal Pictures. On the small screen, Bateman's company F+A Productions secured a first-look production deal to develop, direct and write original content for 20th Century Fox Television. The deal came to fruition after Bateman directed the comedy pilot Do Not Disturb for the network, which premiered in the 2008 fall lineup. Bateman also reteamed with Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz to voice a character in the FOX animated comedy series Sit Down, Shut Up, which premiered in April 2009. In the summer of 2009, Bateman directed and produced the FX Networks pilot The Merger.

In 2008, Bateman co-starred in the Peter Berg action film Hancock, alongside Will Smith and Charlize Theron. Hancock became one of the top box-office openings worldwide in 2008, coming on the heels of one of the biggest success stories in independent filmmaking, with Fox Searchlight's gem Juno, in which Bateman had a pivotal role as the potential, yet uncertain, adoptive father to Juno's unborn child. Directed by Jason Reitman, the film was nominated for Best Picture by most major film critics' groups, as well as by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Bateman co-starred opposite Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper and Jennifer Garner in the Universal Pictures drama The Kingdom, an action-thriller set in Saudi Arabia and directed by Peter Berg.

Prior to this, Bateman starred opposite Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman in the Fox/Mandate Pictures family fantasy film Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, for director and writer Zach Helm.

Bateman's other film credits include starring with Zach Braff and Amanda Peet in the Miramax comedy The Ex, and a supporting role in The Break-Up, again with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston. Prior to that, he portrayed a loose-lipped sports commentator in 20th Century Fox's comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. Bateman also co-starred in the Warner Bros. film Starsky & Hutch, opposite Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. In 2002, he starred with Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate and Selma Blair in the romantic comedy The Sweetest Thing.

Dating back to his adolescent and teenage years, Bateman's portrayal of the charming schemer Derek Taylor on Silver Spoons prompted NBC to create the spin-off, It’s Your Move, starring Bateman. He then starred with Valerie Harper in her television series Valerie, retitiled Valerie’s Family and then The Hogan Family, from 1986 through 1991. Prior to that, he was a series regular on an iconic television series that has become an American treasure, Little House on the Prairie.

In January 2010, Bateman and Will Arnett, his longtime friend and Arrested Development co-star, announced the creation of their digital-driven production company, DumbDumb Productions. Working alongside Electus, DumbDumb Productions allows Bateman and Arnett to produce commercials, shorts and original content for distribution on the Internet and for the film industry.

©2011 Universal Pictures