How Ron Howard’s career path heavily inspired Jason Bateman: “A mentor and a friend”
Navigating a career in Hollywood is no easy feat. Fame and fortune bring challenges that few are truly prepared for, but for child stars—especially those hoping to transition into lasting adult careers—the road is even tougher. Ron Howard is arguably the gold standard of a child star who made it work, staying busy and relevant in the industry for decades without falling into the common pitfalls. His example has been so impactful that one former child star modelled their entire career on Howard’s kind, hard-working approach.
In the early 1980s, a new child star made waves in sitcoms like Silver Spoons, It’s Your Move, and The Hogan Family. His name was Jason Bateman, and for most of that decade, the teenage star was one of TV’s most reliable presences. These days, of course, Bateman is well-known as the star of Netflix’s Ozark and movies like Horrible Bosses, Zootopia, Air, and Carry-On. However, in that awkward period when he tried to show Hollywood that he was more than just a child star, things didn’t exactly go to plan.
“I remember when things were really dry for me in my 20s,” Bateman told GQ in 2013. During this period, he didn’t work as often as he would have liked and subsequently found himself sucked into the endless party cycle that ensnares many of the young, rich, talented celebrities in Hollywood. “I don’t think most people are aware that there was a period where I really enjoyed partying instead of working,” he lamented to The Daily Beast.
Becoming a party boy who failed to land many jobs was a dramatic change from Bateman’s teen years when it seemed like he could do no wrong. It left him insecure and prone to second-guessing himself. “I was really having a hard time with, literally, how to behave at an audition,” he admitted. “Your natural instinct is to go in there and let them know how much you want it and be affable and be ambitious. Yet in this business, much like high school, a sexy indifference will go a long way – sort of that playing-hard-to-get thing.”
In essence, Bateman became self-conscious about people realising how desperately he wanted a job. He’d start to perform twice – once as the actor reading lines and once as the actor pretending it was no big deal if he did or didn’t book the gig. He was afraid that if people knew how he truly felt, they’d view him as weak – but then he began to take note of how Howard handled himself in the business. He was also a child star but moved smoothly into adult acting before becoming one of the industry’s most celebrated directors. The thing that impressed Bateman the most, though, was that he did it by being himself.
“I remember watching him be that famous, kind, affable, engaging, almost eager persona,” Bateman marvelled, “And I remember thinking, ‘Boy, you know, there’s no way anybody would ever misinterpret that kindness for weakness.’ And I thought to myself, ‘If I’m ever lucky enough to find some relevance again…I’m going to be able to be as nice as I want to be and not be nervous that’s going to be misinterpreted for desperate.”
Amazingly, Howard would later become involved in Bateman’s career revival in a much more direct way. In 2003, Bateman began starring as Michael Bluth in the hilarious Arrested Development, a brilliant sitcom that was executive-produced and narrated by, you guessed it, Ron Howard. It re-introduced Bateman to both Hollywood and audiences, and he told The Guardian, “I will always respect the access and relevance that show gave me, and try not to take that for granted again.”
Heartwarmingly, Bateman was able to tell Howard about basing his entire career revival on his positive persona. “I’ve literally walked him through this long-winded story,” he chuckled. “It was just really, really nice to be able to do that and to have him be a mentor and a friend.”
