Jason Bateman made a rare comment about how his success as a baby star inspired his sister, Justine Bateman, to get into acting.
Through the Tuesday, December 16, episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, host David Letterman asked Jason, 56, about how he began within the industry.
“I got very lucky with commercials early on and did a bunch of those,” Jason recalled before referencing his sister. “Justine saw those were bringing in some money and so she got an agent too.”
Jason broke down exactly how much money he earned, adding, “Back in those days, in the event you got a national industrial, you could possibly expect to make $30,000 a industrial once it is finished playing in three months.”
The actor later starred on shows resembling Little House on the Prairie, The Hogan Family, Teen Wolf Too and Mandatory Roughness. Along along with his appearances on the massive screen, he became a household name with roles on Arrested Development and Ozark, which earned him a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy.
Justine, 59, meanwhile, appeared on Family Ties, Satisfaction, Men Behaving Badly, The TV Set, Desperate Housewives and Californication. She has since transitioned into directing with movies resembling Violet.
Despite navigating life in the general public eye together, Jason and Justine have rarely discussed their relationship. Jason recently offered an update on where he stands along with his sister.
“There isn’t the everyday ‘We see one another every Thanksgiving or every Christmas and our youngsters need to be together,’” Jason, who shares two kids with wife Amanda Anka, revealed to Esquire earlier this month. “There isn’t that. … In a terrific way.
Jason clarified that the siblings aren’t in a foul place, but they “don’t see one another a ton” lately.
“Our conversations are the wealthy conversations you’d have with an adult friend, not the type of petulant back-and-forth you may have along with your adult sibling,” he said. “We hang around, and we’re nice to one another because we respect each other as individuals whatever the blood thing. I’m seeing her for lunch next week.”
Justine previously took to social media with a brutally honest message.
“Anyone bringing up my brother to me for some other reason than to say you want his latest upcoming show, or any of his past work, can be muted at best, and blocked at worst,” she wrote via X in September.
Justine appeared to shut down speculation of a falling out between her and Jason.
“I’m not focused on your fantasy about some imagined conflict between the 2 of us over your political ideologies. Really, it’s sick,” she fired back. “So, stick with it. It makes it easy for me if [you] discover yourselves, so I could make an X setting adjustment to never must hear from you, ever again.”