Taking The Bate

'Generous' is a term that comes up a lot when the discussion turns to Jason Bateman. The actor, perhaps best known for playing put-upon voice of reason Michael Bluth on the classic US TV comedy, Arrested Development, has a reputation as one of the best straight men in the business, deftly underplaying while giving co-stars with flashier roles their space under the spotlight.

Bateman is, of course, more than capable of turning the attention to himself, usually in more dramatic projects like Smokin' Aces and especially the journalism thriller, State Of Play, where he vividly brought shady, sleazy characters to life. And he admits that the chance to play the antagonist does prove appealing on occasion. But he also knows what works for him and, just as importantly, works for the audience.

“I wouldn't mind playing the antagonist in one of these two-handers one of these days, but the part of the straight man is a little complicated at times and I like to take on that responsibility,” he admits. “And there are so many great comedic talents out there to play the other side of a two-hander that I wouldn't want to take that part and miss the opportunity to work with those really, really talented people.”

Case in point: the new comedy, Identity Thief, in which Bateman plays beleaguered businessman Sandy, whose life and career is thrown into utter disarray by Diana (Melissa McCarthy), the ID robber of the title. Running up massive credit card bills in his name is only the tip of the iceberg, and Sandy takes it upon himself to track down Diana and bring her to justice. That is easier said than done, of course, given that Diana is a dab hand at both emotional manipulation and throat-punching. 

In its early stages, Identity Thief was written with two men in mind, with Bateman approached from the beginning to play Sandy. After seeing McCarthy's breakout turn in Bridesmaids, however, Bateman was convinced that “this genius comedic actress” would be the ideal co-star. So while the core concept of one person stealing another's identity was maintained, Identity Thief was essentially rebuilt from scratch, “tailor-made for Melissa's tremendous skill-set”, in Bateman's words.

Bateman has done his share of two-handers, including The Change-Up, opposite Ryan Reynolds, but he's also done his share of ensemble work, and he finds joys and challenges in both processes. “You have to work out the recipe, the rhythm of two hands clapping,” he says of two-handers. “If you can find someone as talented as Melissa, you jump in and basically form a singular character that the audience hopefully enjoys. I like the classic structure of two people starting as enemies and gradually finding common ground, and I think the audience looks forward to that as well. As an actor, you enjoy the process and the challenge of navigating that, bringing these two together. It's a little more disjointed in an ensemble. You play one colour, the other actors have their colours and they're all brought together.”

Hey, speaking of brought together, the cast of the aforementioned Arrested Development has been brought back together for new episodes scheduled to premiere soon. And Bateman has some interesting information about how these new adventures of the dysfunctional Bluth clan will play out.

“It's been referred to as season four, and that's a mislabelling,” he admits. “These are fourteen individual episodes that serve as act one of a three-act story the creator wants to tell. He tried to put it all in a movie but it just didn't fit. So acts two and three will be in a film that will be written once all the deals are made. These episodes are coming out in May, and they'll be very satisfying in and of themselves but they will also raise questions that only the film will answer.”

In cinemas Thursday 4 April.