Jason Bateman is already king of the Emmy nominations this year with four individual mentions in the producing, acting, writing and directing categories. He’s nominated for Lead Actor and Director for a Limited Series, Anthology or Television Movie for Netflix’s Black Rabbit, as well as for Supporting Actor and as a producer on a Limited or Anthology Series for DTF St. Louis.
Overall, Bateman, a veteran star who started as a child actor, has a total of 18 Emmy nominations, winning once, in 2019, for directing his Netflix drama series Ozark.
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As he tells me in this new edition of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens, “I am 1 for 14!”
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Bateman has a good chance to build on that win record with his acclaimed work this season, two projects that as I point out have moved him to the darker side of stories he chooses to do. They follow his villainous turn in the smash hit TV movie Carry-On to show viewers a completely different type of role Bateman has successfully done in the past including comedic turns in Arrested Development, Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief, Bad Words and countless others, along with his vocal performance as Nick in Disney’s hit animated franchise Zootopia.
Bateman has also been making a name for himself behind the camera as a director, his work helming the first two episodes of Black Rabbit representing his latest recognition there; although the show debuted on Netflix a year ago, it was still eligible and remembered to the tune of seven total nominations. His directing work spans TV and features including Bad Words, The Family Fang and even going back to an early sitcom from the ’80s The Hogan Family. With nominations for producing, directing and acting both in lead and supporting categories this year, Bateman is showing again he is one of the most versatile multihyphenates in the industry.
As we spoke, Bateman is wrapping up his latest directorial achievement, The Cackling of the Dodos starring Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson. On top of everything else, his podcast with Sean Hayes and Will Arnett, Smartless, regularly cracks the top five of all comedy podcasts.
We talk about all of this including the dark edges of his current nominated work that drew him into places he had not gone before, the risks all paying off. To watch our conversation and go “behind the lens” with Jason Bateman, watch the video above.
Join me every Monday and Thursday this season for a new episode of Behind the Lens, and each Wednesday for a new edition of The Actor’s Side.