Jason Bateman Advises Gary Coleman To Get Kidnapped
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Newsstand
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Sort of. In an entertaining interview over at The Guardian, flavor of the month Jason Bateman opens up somewhat about his many years in the Hollywood wilderness, and comes across as genuinely shaken by how randomly an actor like himself can go from unemployable to a hot property in the blink of an eye, for no good reason. Specifically, Bateman talks about the randomness of choosing the Arrested Development series, his big comeback vehicle. "I would have done a show half as good as Arrested Development," he says. "Things were few and far between. I didn't give a shit at the time. I just got really lucky." He says that around the same time Arrested Development was offered, he also got an offer to appear on another show that would have tanked, and his big rebirth would never have happened. "The more obvious choice was the other series," he says. "It had a big star, it paid better, it probably had guaranteed air time. It could have buried me."
Continuing with his 'it's all a coin toss' analogy, he posits the following hilarious scenario: "Let's say, God forbid, Gary Coleman got kidnapped tomorrow. That would lead the national news. Then he would get released, maybe in a month, but now he is revitalised, currently relevant, and a great piece of casting for a new project. If he does that project and he's halfway decent in it, he's got another career. It's an awful way to make a living if your success is predicated on some arbitrary moment of exposure." Am I the only who thinks that there's at least a 50-50 chance that Coleman will read this article and then hire someone to kidnap him?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-20-2007 @ 11:33AM
Gina said...
Hope not. I always had a soft spot for "Arnold." :-) Those are really good quotes, though. I feel sorry for actors -- in so many cases, one day they're flying high; the next, through no fault of their own, they're out of work and the world is piling on them and calling them washed-up has-beens. It's sad. How can anyone maintain their sanity with that kind of job security (or insecurity)?
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12-20-2007 @ 12:13PM
christopher_martone said...
Any thoughts out there as to which TV show he was referring to (i.e. the one he passed on)?
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12-20-2007 @ 12:13PM
kevjohn said...
Those are some pretty insightful comments by Bateman. I can't wait for his book "Zen and the Acting Career".
He could have picked someone more suitable than Gary Coleman though. Coleman has already had attention-grabbing fiascos more off the wall than getting kidnapped. Gov. Arnold Drummond anyone?
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4-17-2008 @ 4:45AM
Nick said...
You're kind of dismissive of Bateman's talent. "Flavor of the month[...] for no good reason"?
He's a talented guy and I don't think either of those things are accurate. He was great on Arrested Development and he's very very good in Juno. Give the guy a chance to branch out and take some better film roles before you pigeon-hole him. He was by far the best thing in Smokin' Aces by the way.
Also he's fucking Teen Wolf II! Come ON!
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12-20-2007 @ 7:04PM
Eddie said...
Do you think you can get enough to pay for someone's silence and jail sentence for a fake kidnapping from CashCall?
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