Jason Bateman has spoken candidly about getting sober, sharing how a series of honest discussions with his wife, Amanda Anka, helped him move away from his partying lifestyle.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 57-year-old explained that the change came through ongoing conversations rather than ultimatums. “Amanda and I definitely had a few negotiations about the point at which the [partying] spigot was going to completely turn off,” Bateman said. “She’d be like, ‘This drip, drip, drip is annoyingly unpredictable, Jason.’”
Bateman said Anka’s approach was measured, and that while she didn’t force him into complete abstinence, he ultimately decided that was the direction he needed to take to protect their relationship and reduce the strain his behaviour was creating.
“I was like, ‘Well, I feel like my [sobriety] ETA is six months away, but if I could land this plane now, it would alleviate a lot of the tension, so let’s just f***ing do it,’” he added.
Looking back at that period, Bateman acknowledged how heavy the partying became, including alcohol and cocaine — which he referred to as “The Scarface stuff,” nodding to the Al Pacino film. After committing to sobriety, he said he left both behind, while continuing to smoke marijuana as part of what he described as being ‘California sober.’
He also noted that the era he was living through made it easier to keep much of it out of public view. “Fortunately I was living at a time without social media and camera phones, so I got away with a lot,” he recalled. “But it was definitely close a few times,”
Bateman said part of his decision to stop came from seeing people around him hit frightening lows, prompting him to step back before things escalated further. “I’ve got friends who had bottoms that were pretty chilling, but I was lucky enough to recognise, ‘This is probably as far as I should go if I still want to accomplish the things that I want to get to,’” he told the outlet.
He added that he was thinking ahead to the kind of life he wanted to build, both personally and professionally. “I was conscious the whole time of wanting to get a lot of these boxes checked before I became a father and a guy with a career that I not only wanted but had a feeling I might be able to get it if I just got the right job,” the Emmy winner added.
Bateman married Anka in July 2001 — the same year he got sober — and he said he has not returned to those habits since.
The couple later welcomed two daughters, Francesca, now 19, and Maple, now 14, in 2006 and 2012, and Bateman has spoken about fatherhood as one of the achievements he values most.
Even so, he has previously suggested their relationship could have ended very differently if he hadn’t changed course. Speaking to Details in 2009, Bateman reflected on how drinking fuelled other choices and why cutting alcohol was the turning point.
“I was never at a place where rehab would have been appropriate,” he reflected. “Booze was what would make me want to stay out all night and do some blow or smoke a joint or whatever, so shutting that off was key. It’s like ketchup and French fries — I don’t want one without the other.”
Over time, Bateman and Anka established what he described as a relationship built on clarity and mutual respect, with both of them understanding what helps the marriage function.
“Our marriage has defied the odds and works really well,” he told Redbook in January 2013. “We are really aware of our boundaries. We know how to bug each other and not bug each other. If you don’t get along, it’s garbage. With a girlfriend, you get into a fight, you drive away. With us, we learn to fight quickly or not at all. I wanted to marry a friend. Friends last longer.”