As per a recent news report by The Daily Mail, Jason Bateman said during an interview that he quit drinking and drugs to ease tension in his marriage.During an interview with the THR magazine on Wednesday, the former child actor said that he decided to sober up in 2001 to save his marriage with his wife, Amanda Anka. Jason Bateman and Anka got married in the same year as well. View this post on Instagram Instagram Post"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", Jason Bateman told the magazine"She didn't demand that I completely absolve, but that was sort of the back-and-forth," Bateman recounted their "a few negotiation" around his drinking.Let's just f–king do it, the co-host of the SmartLess podcast added. "I felt like my [sobriety] ETA is six months away, but if I could land this plane now, it would alleviate a lot of tension," she said.In December 2025, Bateman told Esquire about his recovery, wedding in Malibu, California, and his role on Arrested Development, adding that he also quit smoking cigarettes within "12 to 24 months."The former child star told the magazine that the ten years before that had been a "confusing and challenging..." learning curve.Jason Bateman's struggle with alcohol abuseDuring an interview with The Guardian, Jason Bateman shared that there was a time during the 90's when he was not acting much. He said that the reason behind it was that he wanted to have all the fun that he missed as a child actor and take a break from acting.The 53-year-old Bateman first appeared on television as James Cooper on Little House on the Prairie. From there, as a child and subsequently as a teenager, he starred in a number of TV series and films, such as The Hogan Family."Having thought, 'This is really fun,' and staying at the party a little bit too long, I'd lost my place in line in the business; it was a case of trying to claw that back towards the end of the 90s, and not getting a lot of great responses, " said Bateman during the interview with The GuardianIt was during his 20s that Bateman started struggling with alcohol and substance abuse. This caused him to lose several projects.The Game Night actor claimed that during the height of his battle with substance usage, his wife gave him an ultimatum, which prompted him to enter an AA program.Thanks to Arrested Development, Bateman was able to 'claw' his way back into the entertainment industry after becoming clean.Will Arnett, Michael Cera, and Portia de Rossi were among the all-star cast members of the popular sitcom when it debuted in 2003.