USA Today: After years at work, Jason Bateman proves he belongs

By Kelley L. Carter
USA Today
Excerpt
September 2, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Jason Bateman is finally able to sit at the cool kids' table. Bateman's goal throughout the '80s while starring in TV hits such as Little House on the Prairie and Silver Spoons was simply a shot at one day hitting the big time. Now 40, he is just about there.

I just sort of dork out and want to hang out with cool, good people," Bateman says, laughing. "I want to be one of the cool kids at the party. You know: lay my outfit out the night before and show up. Sure, it's nice if a script is good, but a bad script can be fixed by really good directing and decent acting. So, it's more about the people."

A good team is what he got with Extract, the new Mike Judge comedy opening Friday. In the film, Bateman plays Joel, the head of a food flavoring company who is at a crossroads in his life. Bateman heads up a mixed bag of actors, including Ben Affleck and Mila Kunis.

Bateman landed the role after Judge viewed DVDs of his performance as Michael Bluth in TV's Arrested Development (2003-06).

Extract is Bateman's first lead film role in more than 20 years. His last was 1987's Teen Wolf Too...

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