Jason Bateman Reveals Why He Took A Break From Acting In The 90s

Jason Bateman has revealed he took a break from acting in the 90s to catch up on the things he missed as a child and teenager. But he may have had too much fun, and it affected his career in the long run.

Talking about the 90s in an interview with The Guardian, which was released Monday, the 53-year-old actor admitted that though he thinks of the decade as "wilderness years," he actually objects to that term.

"It was a combination," Bateman told the outlet. "Me stopping everything on purpose, to catch up with all these inabilities I had as a kid, because I was always working. I wanted to get the wiggles out."

Apparently, the actor did some partying during his break. However, he "stayed at the party too long," and it eventually affected his career. When he was ready to find work in Hollywood again, he wasn't immediately accepted.

"Having thought, 'This is really fun,' and staying at the party a little bit too long, I'd lost my place in line in the business," he confessed. "It was a case of trying to claw that back towards the end of the '90s, and not getting a lot of great responses."

The actor's career got back on track in 2003 when he was featured in the sitcom "Arrested Development," where he played Michael Bluth's character until 2019. He has been unstoppable since.

"I will always respect the access and relevance that that show gave me, and try not to take that for granted again, and do everything I can to earn this place in the business that I love. It created an environment; I loved going there every single day," the actor said.

After working on the sitcom, Bateman took on various projects, including "Juno," "Horrible Bosses" and "Ozark." He also lent his voice to the popular animated series, "The Simpsons," from 2005 to 2020. The actor also appeared in the TV series "The Outsider," where he portrayed Terry Maitland.

Bateman also reflected on his work as a child actor. It can be recalled that he was a part of a TV series, "Little House on the Prairie," from 1981 to 1982.

"My first big job, Little House on the Prairie, had Michael Landon as the director, actor, producer — and sometimes writer," he recalled. "There's this theory that you need to scream at people to get them to work their hardest. I saw by example there that the opposite is true."

"Little House on the Prairie" ran for nine seasons from 1974 to 1983.