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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Saturday 22 July 2017
Jason Bateman, star of ‘Ozark,’

loved directing it even more

By FRAZIER MOORE secondary. The chance to tracting at all. I don’t want
AP Television Writer direct “was the draw,” he to rock the boat. I don’t
NEW YORK (AP) — In his says. “That’s what got me want to do anything where
new drama series “Ozark,” vibrating.” the audience goes, ‘Oh!
Jason Bateman doesn’t A yearning to direct? What Look at that performance!’
aim to make waves as Chi- actor doesn’t hear that si- I’m just trying to service the
cago financial adviser Mar- ren call? story. I’m trying to be as
ty Byrde — more like ripples But what makes Bateman’s natural” — a long, contem-
that leave no one around case a bit different is his at- plative pause — “and invis-
This image released by Netflix shows Jason Bateman in a scene
from the series, “Ozark.” him untouched or unex- titude toward acting, and ible as possible.”
Associated Press posed. how, in “Ozark,” that less-is- Or, put another way: “This
When not advising clients more policy informs his per- ISN’T Daniel Day-Lewis
on their 401(k) plans, Marty formance. work,” he says with a smile.
launders cash by the mil- Though slammed with one Suffice it to say, Bateman
lions. But now he’s jammed fearsome challenge after didn’t study money laun-
up with the South American another, Marty responds in dering or consort with drug
drug cartel he cleans that mostly microscopic ways. kingpins to prepare for
money for. So he and his The audience can tell things playing Marty Byrde. And
family bolt for the Missouri eat at him, but it’s mostly when asked if he had any
Ozarks, a safer base of op- buried deep beneath the prior interest in the under-
erations where he hopes surface. Marty seems so world economy, he says,
to make things right before disconnected from his feel- “None. And I’m still not re-
the Byrdes end up dead. ings, the viewer is obliged to ally sure what it means.”
The intoxicating saga that do the connecting for him, Instead, his preproduction
powers the 10 episodes of to fill in the blanks Bateman efforts were focused on un-
“Ozark” (just released on sketches out. The viewer is actorly details, from cast-
Netflix) is full of unexpect- summoned to help Marty ing and crew to locations,
ed twists and is fortified by feel. once he was roped in by Bill
a splendid cast including This is Bateman’s kind of Dubuque’s (“The Accoun-
Laura Linney as Marty’s role. tant,” ‘’A Family Man”)
accomplice-wife and the “The characters that I’m al- scripts.
mother of their two kids. ways drawn to play is ‘us,’” Shooting began a year
The drama churns around he says — “as a proxy who ago, with Atlanta-area
Marty, yet, for Bateman, shapes the experience for lakes Lanier and Allatoona
this starring role was just his the audience.” mostly subbing for the Lake
means to a more compel- Even in his signature role on of the Ozarks.
ling end: The role of direc- “Arrested Development,” In getting the portrayal of
tor. his character, Michael Blu- Marty he wanted, “I basi-
At 48, Bateman began his th, serves as the audience’s cally had a robot at my dis-
acting career in childhood surrogate — the sanest posal in front of the cam-
on “Little House on the Prai- member of this clan who era who was reading my
rie” and “Silver Spoons,” shares and shapes viewers’ mind on every scene, every
and is perhaps best known wonderment at the lunacy take,” Bateman says. “He
as a member of the flakey whirling around him. could make surgical ad-
Bluth family on the cult “Acting changed for me justments that I might have
comedy “Arrested Devel- a while ago when I started found very, very difficult to
opment.” (Next month, he to become disenchanted articulate to someone else.
reunites with his fellow Bluth with pretending to be oth- And there was ZERO cre-
loonies to shoot a new cy- er people,” Bateman says. ative negotiation neces-
cle of the series for Netflix.) “I’m not interested in trick- sary with that ‘robot’!
But after decades on cam- ing you into thinking I’m “It’s been the best experi-
era, Bateman found an somebody else. My chal- ence of my life,” Bateman
even greater passion. He lenge with acting has now sums up. “I’ve had a long
directed (not just acted changed into a different career and a lot of jobs
in) a pair of features: “Bad goal: to give me another that I’ve absolutely loved,
Words” (2013) and “The hand on the wheel, along and this is A-No. 1, for sure.”
Family Fang” (2015). He with directing, to steer the He hopes for a quick go-
wanted more of that. audience through the sto- ahead to start preparing
That’s where “Ozark “ ry.” another round of episodes.
came in. He signed on as It seems like heresy: The And as producer-director,
its executive producer with notion that an actor isn’t he knows his leading man
plans to direct all 10 epi- always playing let’s-pre- is all in.
sodes. (This proved logisti- tend, and wouldn’t want to “Marty is a character that is
cally impossible; he direct- claim the spotlight at every definitely a part of me, and
ed the four that bookend opportunity. I’m good friends with that
the season, passing the “I’m trying to not do ANY part of me,” says Bateman.
reins to others for the mid- acting,” Bateman insists. “When I need him, I know
dle six.) His acting job was “I’m trying to be not dis- he’ll be around.”q