Jason Bateman is reflecting on the impact his wife had on his path to sobriety. In a recent candid interview, the actor detailed what prompted him to quit drinking and give up his partying lifestyle.
Jason Bateman talks about getting sober
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jason Bateman talked about what led him to quit alcohol. The actor revealed that his marriage to Amanda Anka served as a major turning point in his journey to sobriety.
“Amanda and I definitely had a few negotiations about the point at which the [partying] spigot was going to completely turn off. She’d be like, ‘This drip, drip, drip is annoyingly unpredictable, Jason,’ ” Bateman shared.
“She didn’t demand that I completely absolve,” the actor added. “But that was sort of the back-and-forth, and 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.”
The Ozark star has been sober for years and has stepped away from his partying habits. “I’ve got friends who had bottoms that were pretty chilling, but I was lucky enough to recognize, ‘This is probably as far as I should go if I still want to accomplish the things that I want to get to,’” the actor said.
The SmartLess podcaster added, “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.”
Notably, Bateman is set to star in DTF St. Louis, an upcoming dark comedy miniseries developed by Steven Conrad. The series will premiere on March 1, 2026, on HBO.
