108 TIMESeptember 3–10, 20189 Questions
‘
I’M USUALLY
THE PERSON
REACTING TO
THE FUNNY OR
RUNNING FROM
THE SCARY
’behind the shack that rents the boats?
What’s going on behind the liquor
store? What’s going on in the homes,
apartments, trailers—the people who
service the vacation homes?You earned two Emmy nominations
forOzark, one for acting and one
for directing. After having acted for
so long, what do you enjoy about
directing?With this type of project, you
can’t be over-reliant on one particular
element. It’s a world and a story line
that lends itself to many diferent
departments that a director can utilize—
it’s not something that is going to win
if there are a bunch of jokes in it or win
if there are a bunch of cool efects. It
can succeed only if every department is
doing a tasteful and subtle job.You’ve returned toArrested
Development twice. What’s changed
as you revisit the show? Not much—it’s
great being with that bunch and working
with characters that we love.Are you open to doing another
season? I would always be open to
working with everybody and anybody
associated with that show.Back in May, you apologized to Jes-
sica Walter amid criticism that
you had minimized her feelings
in an interview after a bad on-set
experience with Jefrey Tambor.
How did that make you rethink
how people should treat each
other in the workplace?I have al-
ways thought it’s important for peo-
ple to treat one another with respect
at work, no matter what industry
you’re in. The whole experience has
allowed me to do a lot of listening, and
I continue that to this day.What do you want to do next that
you haven’t already done?I just hope
I continue to get chances to challenge
myself to the edge of what I can handle.
That’s fun.—MAHITA GAJANANT
he men you play on both
Arrested Development and
Ozark are unassuming
guys who get embroiled in intense
situations. Are you drawn to
characters like this? I like to be a proxy
for the audience—that’s a necessary
component in a drama or a comedy. I
like the responsibility of that. It’s not the
funny part in a comedy, and in a drama,
it’s not the scary part—I’m usually the
person reacting to the funny or running
from the scary.Ozark details class divisions and
economic inequality. How did you
consider those issues in the show?
A family—the Byrdes—comes down
to the center of the country and thinks
they can dominate and manipulate.
They underestimate the savviness of the
locals, and they’re still kind of paying
that bill. The rude awakening they ind
themselves in is something that would
be familiar to a lot of what our country
realized a couple of years ago.Marty Byrde shares similarities with
classic TV antiheroes like Walter
White. Do you feel sympathy for him?
I do, yeah. Anybody who overestimates
their intelligence and overplays their
hand of ambition deserves sympathy
and empathy as long as they’re trying
to mend those mistakes. He is. There’s
some regret and some shame and some
moments of contrition that he and
his wife go through. They tried to cut
a corner when they got into this big
mess. Now they’re trying to get out of
it and get back to the “boring life.”Have you visited the Ozarks?We
shot there for the irst and second
episodes. Certainly, the Lake of
the Ozarks is not a cool type of
palette—it’s a very sunny, hot
place, famous for its recreation.
What was interesting to me about
the story and these people is
what’s happening behind that
lake economy. What’s going onJason BatemanTheOzark star
talks Season 2, taking the helm as a
director and why he’s listening more
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