Jason Bateman ditched drink and drugs to ease ‘tension’ with wife Amanda Anka

Hollywood actor Jason Bateman ditched drink and drugs to ease the “tension” with his wife Amanda Anka.

Jason Bateman ditched drink and drugs to ease the “tension” with his wife Amanda Anka.

The 57-year-old actor found fame as a child star and he threw himself into the party lifestyle after his work dried up when he was in his 20s but he eventually sobered up after marrying Amanda – the daughter of singer/songwriter Paul Anka – in 2001 and getting his career back on track with a role in Arrested Development in 2003.

Speaking about his partying in his 20s, Jason told The Hollywood Reporter: “Fortunately, I was living at a time without social media and camera phones, so I got away with a lot, but it was definitely close a few times …

“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’.

“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.”

He went on to insist he quit partying to focus on his relationship with his wife, adding: “Amanda and I definitely had a few negotiations about the point at which the [partying] spigot was going to completely turn off.

“She’d be like: ‘This drip, drip, drip is annoyingly unpredictable, Jason’. She didn’t demand that I completely absolve, but that was sort of the back-and-forth, and 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****** do it.”

Jason explained he has given up alcohol and drugs – which he describes as “the Scarface stuff” – but joked he is now “California sober”, suggesting he still smokes marijuana.

He went on to admit he’s embraced the nickname ‘Grandpa’ which has been given to him by his group of friends because he loves being at home with his wife and two daughters.

Jason added: “I’m a softie. I like moving the Elf on the Shelf every day. In fact, we’ve got a new little thing, a troll, that I move around now in the offseason.

“But I love it all: the slippers, the fireplace, the nesting.”