Television Bateman first appeared in a cereal commercial for
Golden Grahams in 1980 and began his television career on
Little House on the Prairie as James Cooper, an orphaned boy who, along with his sister, is adopted by the Ingalls family. From 1982 to 1984, he was a supporting character on the television show
Silver Spoons as
Ricky Schroder's "bad boy" best friend Derek Taylor. He appeared in the
Knight Rider third-season episode "Lost Knight" in 1984, and a number of other small television roles. In 1984, in response to his popularity on
Silver Spoons, the show's producers gave Bateman his own starring role as Matthew Burton on the
NBC sitcom ''
It's Your Move'', from September 1984 to February 1985. In 1987, he appeared with
Burt Reynolds on the men's team in the inaugural week of game show
Win, Lose or Draw. Bateman earned the status of
teen idol in the mid-1980s for his television work, most notably as David Hogan on
The Hogan Family (originally titled
Valerie and later, ''Valerie's Family'', after
Valerie Harper left the series). He became the
Directors Guild of America's youngest-ever director when, at age 18, he directed three episodes of
The Hogan Family. In 1987, he gained international recognition in the motion picture sequel
Teen Wolf Too, which was a box office failure. In 1994 he played opposite
Katharine Hepburn and
Anthony Quinn in the television film ''
This Can't Be Love. During this period, he had roles on four seriesSimon, Chicago Sons, George & Leo, and Some of My Best Friendsnone of which lasted longer than one season. He also directed an episode of Two of a Kind'' in 1999. In 2002, he played the frisky sibling of
Thomas Jane's character in the feature film
The Sweetest Thing. In 2003, Bateman was cast as
Michael Bluth in the comedy series
Arrested Development. Although critically acclaimed, the series never achieved high ratings for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. New episodes of Arrested Development have been released on Netflix with the original cast, including Bateman. Bateman performed commentary on the
2004 Democratic National Convention for
The Majority Report with
Arrested Development co-star
David Cross, and hosted
NBC's
Saturday Night Live on February 12, 2005. In 2006, he appeared as a guest star on the
Scrubs episode "
My Big Bird" as Mr. Sutton, a garbage man with a flock of vicious
ostriches as pets. In 2009, Bateman became a regular voice actor for the short-lived Fox comedy series
Sit Down, Shut Up. He voiced Larry Littlejunk, the gym teacher and only staff member who can teach. In 2010, Bateman and
Arrested Development co-star
Will Arnett created "DumbDumb Productions", a production company focusing on digital content. Their first video was "Prom Date", the first in a series of "Dirty Shorts" for
Orbit. In 2012, Bateman returned to his role of Michael Bluth for the revival of
Arrested Development along with the rest of the original cast. The now-
Netflix-sponsored series released season4 on its Instant Watch website on May 26, 2013. The series was expected to continue its run as well as a potential feature film. For the new fourth season, Bateman was once again nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. Netflix confirmed that the entire cast of the show would be returning for a fifth season, which premiered on May 29, 2018 and concluded on March 15, 2019. In 2017, Bateman returned to television as both actor and director in the Netflix crime drama
Ozark, in which he plays a financial advisor who must relocate his family to Missouri in order to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel. Bateman's performance as
Marty Byrde has drawn positive comparisons to
Bryan Cranston's portrayal of Walter White in
AMC's
Breaking Bad. The series ran for four seasons till 2022, and Bateman directed seven episodes over the course of its run (including the series finale). He won a
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2019 for his work on the second-season premiere. In 2020, Bateman directed, executive produced, and co-starred in the first two episodes of the
HBO crime miniseries
The Outsider, based on the
Stephen King novel of the same name. He served as executive producer on several miniseries, including
A Teacher (2020),
Under the Banner of Heaven (2021),
Florida Man and
Lessons in Chemistry (both 2023), before returning to directing and acting with Netflix's
Black Rabbit (2025), where he starred opposite
Jude Law. In 2026, he starred in
Steven Conrad's black comedy miniseries
DTF St. Louis for HBO, alongside
David Harbour and
Linda Cardellini.
Film In 2004, Bateman appeared in
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story as
ESPN8 ("The Ocho") commentator Pepper Brooks, and in
Starsky & Hutch as Kevin,
Vince Vaughn's business partner. He reunited with Vaughn in 2006's
The Break-Up. In 2007, he played former lawyer Rupert "Rip" Reed alongside
Ben Affleck in ''
Smokin' Aces and also starred in The Kingdom, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and Juno. In 2008, he co-starred with Will Smith and Charlize Theron in the superhero film Hancock''. Bateman's 2009 films included
Extract, written and directed by
Mike Judge, and
Couples Retreat, reuniting with Vaughn in a comedy chronicling four couples who partake in therapy sessions at a tropical island resort (
Kristen Bell played his wife). In 2010, he starred in
The Switch, a romantic comedy, with
Jennifer Aniston. In 2011, he played the role of Special Agent
Lorenzo Zoil in the comedy
Paul and starred in
Horrible Bosses and
The Change-Up. In March 2012,
Mansome, Bateman's first executive producer credit with
Will Arnett, was announced as a Spotlight selection for the
Tribeca Film Festival. The documentary, directed by
Morgan Spurlock, is a comedic look at male identity as it is defined through men's grooming habits, featuring celebrity and expert commentary. He made a dramatic turn in 2012 with the thriller film
Disconnect, and starred in the 2013 comedy film
Identity Thief and the 2014 comedies
This Is Where I Leave You and
Horrible Bosses 2. He also narrated the 2014 documentary
Pump. In 2015 Bateman headlined
Joel Edgerton's thriller film
The Gift, opposite
Rebecca Hall and Edgerton. His production company Aggregate Films extended its deal with Universal. In 2013, Bateman made his feature film directorial debut with
Bad Words, in which he also starred. He also directed and starred in an
adaptation of
The Family Fang. Bateman voiced Nick Wilde, the
con artist fox in
Zootopia. In 2018 he starred in and produced the action comedy film
Game Night. His performance was widely praised and he received nominations for best performance by a comedic actor at the
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards and the
Critics' Choice Awards. Bateman is in the video for the
Mumford & Sons song "Hopeless Wanderer". In 2020, Bateman was set to co-star and direct the
Clue remake with Ryan Reynolds. He later had to back out, reportedly due to schedule conflicts with
Ozark. In March 2022, Bateman signed on to direct the film
Project Artemis, starring
Scarlett Johansson, for
Apple Studios, but departed the project in June due to creative differences; he was eventually replaced as director by
Greg Berlanti. Announced in September 2022, Bateman is tapped to direct Netflix's
Dark Wire, a film based on Joseph Cox's novel of the same name. In January 2023, Bateman signed on to direct
The Pinkerton for
Warner Bros. Pictures and
Bad Robot, and will also serve as executive producer. Bateman was an executive producer for
Outlast, which premiered in 2023. Bateman played supporting roles in
Ben Affleck's docudrama
Air (2023) as
Nike marketing VP
Rob Strasser, and the
Netflix thriller
Carry-On (2024), where he received praise for his
against-type performance as the antagonist. He reprised his role as Nick Wilde in
Zootopia 2, which was released on November 26, 2025. March 2026, it was announced that Bateman will be directing an original
Netflix film starring
Woody Harrelson and
Sam Rockwell, entitled
The Cackling of the Dodos. Podcast In July 2020, Bateman, along with
Will Arnett and
Sean Hayes, created a comedy and talk podcast called
SmartLess. In 2022, Bateman created a media company SmartLess Media in order to create four additional podcasts. In 2023, Apple revealed that SmartLess was #4 of the year's Top Shows. ==Personal life==