Jason Bateman decided to get sober for the sake of his relationship with wife Amanda Anka.
“Amanda and I definitely had a few negotiations about the point at which the [partying] spigot was going to completely turn off,” Bateman, 57, said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Wednesday, February 18. “She’d be like, ‘This drip, drip, drip is annoyingly unpredictable, Jason.’”
Bateman explained that while Anka, also 57, didn’t “demand” that he “completely absolve” from substances, he realized it’s what was best for their marriage. “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 said.
For decades, Bateman has abstained from alcohol and another substance he has referred to as “the Scarface stuff.” (The 1983 Al Pacino film tells the story of a powerful cocaine drug lord.)
Bateman joked to THR that he is “California sober,” which is slang for a person who only uses marijuana.
When looking back on his previous party lifestyle, Bateman explained that he was able to hide his usage.
“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,”
In addition to being inspired by Anka, Bateman realized he needed to tame his partying ways to achieve his goals.
“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,’” he said. “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.”
Bateman and Anka first met in the ‘80s but their connection didn’t turn romantic until much later. The couple started dating in 1997 and tied the knot four years later. Bateman and Anka went on to welcome daughters Francesca and Maple in October 2006 and February 2012, respectively.
In a 2009 interview with Details, Bateman opened up about how his partying lifestyle almost led to the end of his and Anka’s relationship.
“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.”
Years later, Bateman reflected on how he and Anka were able to have a strong foundation.
“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.”
