Jason Bateman’s acting credits span both decades and genres, with the comedic-turned-dramatic actor having appeared in everything from Arrested Development to the Emmy-winning Netflix hit Ozark. More recently, he joined the cast of the Ben Affleck-directed Air, and took his SmartLess podcast on a US tour alongside co-hosts Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.
The podcast, which is the subject of a currently-airing documentary on Max, adds to Bateman’s already illustrious Hollywood career that stretches back to 1981. Bateman has a slew of upcoming projects in the works, including a potential film adaptation of the Hasbro board game Clue, but he earned his debut role decades ago on the set of Little House on the Prairie.
Was Jason Bateman on Little House on the Prairie?
In what was his first-ever television credit, Bateman signed on for the seventh season of Little House on the Prairie in 1981, portraying the character of adopted child James Cooper. Bateman appeared in 21 episodes of the historical drama series, during which his character endured multiple hardships from getting caught in a beartrap to being shot during a bank robbery.
During his one-year stint on Little House on the Prairie, Bateman appeared alongside co-stars Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon as Ingalls parents Laura and Charles, as well as Alison Arngrim and Katherine MacGregor as Nelly and Harriet Olson, respectively. Speaking to Variety about his time on the show, Bateman described the environment as “very familial” and said his work on the following sets was “less functional.”
Bateman was one of many young Prairie castmates who would go on to become household names, with Mary Ingalls’ Melissa Sue Anderson later appearing in The Love Boat and Alicia Sanderson Edwards’ Kyle Richards currently forming the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Post- Prairie breakout roles
After exiting Prairie in 1982, Bateman earned his breakout role and feature film debut in Teen Wolf Too, a 1987 sequel to the original starring Michael J. Fox. Years later, he joined the cast of Arrested Development, before starring in a string of comedy films from 2004’s Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story to 2011’s Horrible Bosses.
Bateman voiced a lead character in the 2016 Disney animation Zootopia, before taking on a career-defining role in Netflix’s Ozark from 2017. Throughout the show’s four-season run, Bateman received an Emmy for Outstanding Direction, and three nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor.
Bateman launched the SmartLess podcast with co-hosts Hayes and Arnett in 2020, and have since interviewed the likes of President Joe Biden, Steven Spielberg and the Russo Brothers, among many others. SmartLess: On the Road is currently streaming on Max.
