\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tJami Gertz, Katharine Hepburn and Jason Bateman in \u2018This Can\u2019t Be Love\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDavis Entertainment\/Everett Collection<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe Best Advice I Ever Received \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tBateman and Linda Cardellini in \u2018DTF St. Louis\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHBO Max<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe Part I Always Wanted<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI mean, I apologize in referencing one of my own things, but truly DTF<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong>I don\u2019t know if I always wanted to play that part, but given the kinds of parts that I\u2019ve been playing for the last 10 or 20 years \u2014 that being sort of a sardonic, cynical guy who knows everything, or thinks he does, that kind of dick \u2014 this was playing a guy that\u2019s so naive and lovely and warm and kind and human and vulnerable and without any sort of artifice or veneer. He hasn\u2019t learned any tricks to seem confident or have this kind of fake swagger. It was incredible to have the dialogue and the scenes to support that, and a director-writer [Steven Conrad] that allowed for that, because the character wasn\u2019t really written at that level of vulnerability. He\u2019s a St. Louis weatherman<\/a>, so any of the assumed polish that might go into somebody like that, there was a bit more of that to the character on paper, a bit more vanity. And I just thought that it might be a more satisfying way to play the character, considering what the finish line was, to play him in much more of an \u2018aw shucks\u2019 way, and really in awe of David Harbour\u2019s character<\/a>, as opposed to being a bit more condescending. I wanted to make him a little bit softer, and I was really happy that Steve let me do that because it was nice to play that, somebody so lovely.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tBateman with Ron Howard in \u2018Arrested Development\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMike Yarish\/\u00a9Netflix\/Everett Collection<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe Most Fun I\u2019ve Had On Set<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI think it\u2019s got to be Arrested Development<\/em><\/strong>. That group of people was just incredibly funny and talented and kind. And then, all that writing that we got to do every single day, where if you\u2019re not howling with laughter in between takes, you\u2019re trying to keep yourself from laughing while you\u2019re doing the takes. It was just nonstop fun and in a brand of humor that is right up my alley, both the writing and the actors, their own personal sense of humor. And then, on top of all of that, it was a career-saver for me. So, there was great feelings and mood all around.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Shows And Films That\u00a0Make Me Cry<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWell, anything with little kids in it now. Once I had children, I got really soft. I mean, I cry at commercials now with little infants learning how to walk and stuff like that. I don\u2019t know what happened to me. I can still put on Kramer vs. Kramer<\/em><\/strong> and start bawling. I\u2019m sort of dating myself a bit. I\u2019m a big classical music fan, so anytime classical music is under something, it kind of drops me into a place where a lot of my emotions live. So, that\u2019s an easy hack to get me to go. Sometimes, when I have to cry in a scene, I\u2019ll listen on my iPhone to some classical music, and it just kind of drops me into it.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tRachel McAdams and Bateman in \u2018Game Night\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWarner Bros.\/Everett Collection<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe Part That\u2019s Most Like Me<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWell, let\u2019s see. I mean, I don\u2019t know. Since I don\u2019t like to see a lot of acting<\/em> from actors, I try not to be hypocritical. So, I do try to shape each character that I play into a bit of a part of me. So, I guess all of them would really qualify to a certain extent, but most like me is probably Arrested Development <\/em><\/strong>or the Horrible Bosses character or Game Night\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tI love being around people that are very eccentric, and that\u2019s potentially a problem, because they\u2019re a lot of fun to hang out with, but you do have to stay on your toes and keep one foot in reality. That can demand some patience with those folks, which is kind of the dynamic I was playing with all those characters, of him being around people that he thinks are less-than, or perhaps even dumber than him, but then his own stupidity is revealed often. That\u2019s always fun to do.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tJulia Garner and Bateman in \u2018Ozark\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNetflix\/Everett Collection<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tMy Most Quoted Role<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI mean, it used to be Arrested Development<\/em>, but really Ozark<\/em><\/strong> took over for that. I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s much of a quotable character, but I was really, really excited that that landed with so many people and the formula of that show, that being a very relatable family, a very relatable protagonist, that goes into this extraordinary situation. And somehow we managed to keep it plausible and relatable, such that the audience could go through a very unsettling, vicarious experience. I do get a lot of comments from folks, not necessarily quoting lines, but repeating scenes and moments and instances that have stuck with them.<\/p>\n![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
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<\/strong>I was very, very lucky to do a job with Katharine Hepburn. I think it might\u2019ve been her last job. I played her driver. It was kind of a Driving Miss Daisy<\/em> type of dynamic between our characters, and it was a movie of the week for CBS [This Can\u2019t Be Love<\/em>]. Anthony Quinn was in it as well. And she and I were doing a scene where I had to get emotional, and it was just the two of us. And I remember I was trying to cry in the scene. I guess maybe I was just really pushing or really leaning into it too much, and in the middle of the take, she stopped, and she said, \u201cOh, stop acting!\u201d And it was crushing to hear in front of the crew and everybody. And I said, \u201cYou mean for good, like professionally?\u201d And she was like, \u201cNo, no, no. Just say the words. You\u2019re great. Just you don\u2019t need to push and add the stuff. Just be human and say the words<\/strong> and be emotional. Don\u2019t act<\/em> emotional.\u201d It took me a while to decipher it all, but that was, in retrospect, a very helpful, economical way to tell an actor to stop acting and be a bit more real. I think I was maybe 19 or 20 at the time.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>