• Home
  • Mail
  • News
  • Finance
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Search
  • Mobile
  • More
Yahoo
    • Skip to Navigation
    • Skip to Main Content
    • Skip to Related Content
    • Mail
    Entertainment Home
    Follow Us
    • The It List
    • TV
    • Movies
    • Celebrity
    • Music
    • Live Celeb Chats
    • Videos

    ‘Ozark’ Postmortem: Jason Bateman Reveals the Scene That Persuaded Him to Make Netflix’s New Crime Drama

    Ethan Alter
    Senior Writer, Yahoo Entertainment
    Yahoo TVJuly 22, 2017
    Reblog
    Share
    Tweet
    Share
    Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde in Netflix's Ozark. (Photo Credit: Jackson Davis/Netflix)
    View photos
    Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde in ‘Ozark.’ (Photo Credit: Jackson Davis/Netflix)

    Warning: This post contains spoilers for the “Sugarwood” episode of Ozark.

    With one Netflix series already under his belt — the revival of Arrested Development, which debuted its fourth season on the streaming service in 2013, with another to follow next year — Jason Bateman wasn’t necessarily looking to add another. Instead, as the actor tells Yahoo TV, he planned to expand his feature filmmaking horizons by directing a movie that took place on a bigger canvas than his first two features, 2013’s Bad Words and 2015’s The Family Fang. But then the pilot script for Netflix’s moody crime drama Ozark arrived on his desk, and reading through it, Bateman came across a scene that landed on him with a major impact.

    Arriving at roughly the 40-minute mark in the first episode, “Sugarwood,” the scene that turned Bateman’s head finds the show’s central character, financial planner Marty Byrde (Bateman), racing up to the apartment building where he expects to confront his wife Wendy (Laura Linney) and her lover. As he approaches the tower, rehearsing what he’s going to say to the pair, a body hits the pavement right in front of him. It’s his rival for Wendy’s affections, tossed over the side of his 80th-floor balcony by the drug cartel enforcer, Del (Esai Morales), whose bosses have been laundering money through Marty’s firm.

    (Credit: Netflix)
    View photos
    (Credit: Netflix)

    “The way that scene sneaks up on you when you’re reading the script was a clear indication of the prism of the show,” Bateman says. “Marty thinks he’s got everything under control, but he’s not so bright that there aren’t going to be problems. And then one problem literally falls from the sky right in front of him.”

    Reading and re-reading that scene on the page, Bateman’s directorial mind immediately took over as he envisioned the various ways it could be shot to make as big an impression on a viewing audience as it did on him. And when he finished the script, written by Ozark creator, Bill Dubuque, he put his feature film plans on hold, and committed his time and energy to Ozark both in front of and behind the camera. In addition to starring in the 10-episode series, Bateman is the show’s executive producer and directed four installments, including the premiere and the feature-length finale. (Initially, he hoped to direct every episode, but the demands of the production didn’t allow for that.) Through it all, he says that he approached Ozark not as a TV series, but as a “10-chapter movie” — an expansive storytelling canvas that most feature films can’t boast of.

    Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, Skylar Gaertner as Jonah, Laura Linney as Wendy Byrde and Sofia Hublitz as Charlotte in Netflix's Ozark.
    View photos
    Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, Skylar Gaertner as Jonah, Laura Linney as Wendy Byrde, and Sofia Hublitz as Charlotte in ‘Ozark.’ (Photo Credit: Jackson Davis/Netflix)

    Viewers who primarily know Bateman from his other, funnier Netflix series, as well as big screen comedies like Dodgeball and Horrible Bosses, may be surprised to see him navigating much darker terrain in Ozark. In addition to adultery and defenestration, the first episode also features Marty eyeing prostitutes and porn, and pleading for his life when Del aims a gun right at his head, intending to take his life as payment for the substantial debt left behind by his co-workers, who have already met their ends in violent ways. Interestingly, Bateman’s performance in that moment expresses the kind of pure desperation that’s also been glimpsed in his comedic work. “Desperation is really the root to both comedy and drama,” he says. “If you’re able to show somebody coming apart at the seams, you can get people to laugh or cry. It’s all about navigating how much desperation or vulnerability you show.”

    Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde in Netflix's Ozark . (Credit: Netflix)
    View photos
    Marty pleads for his life in ‘Ozark’ (Credit: Netflix)

    In the midst of his freakout, Marty also concocts a plan that delays his death sentence… for now. He sells Del on a grand, potentially Quixotic scheme to launder drug funds through the Ozarks region of Missouri. That plan requires him and Wendy to uproot their two kids, Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (Skyler Gaetner), and trade Chicago’s towering skyscrapers for Missouri’s skyscraping trees. The final shot of “Sugarwood” finds the Byrd family standing on a cliff overlooking the expansive Lake of the Ozarks, as the camera pulls back until they’re barely dots amidst the wild landscape. That scene allowed Bateman — who cites Michael Mann, David Fincher, and Paul Thomas Anderson amongst his directorial influences on Ozark — to achieve a personal first: directing a helicopter shot. “The pilot came right in, hovered in front of us, and started his pullback,” he remembers. “It shows us as these little figures in this vast new environment, not knowing which way to turn or what’s ahead of them.”

    (Credit: Netflix)
    View photos
    (Credit: Netflix)

    Bateman adds that the helicopter sequence was filmed on location in the Ozarks around lunchtime after he had already spent the morning aboard the chopper supervising overhead shots of the surrounding countryside to use in future episodes. (While set in Missouri, the bulk of Ozark was filmed in Georgia due to the state’s tax incentives.) “It was really fun,” he remarks of his first experience in aerial cinematography. “I felt like Mom and Dad were away on vacation and left me the keys to the house. It was like I was just a kid getting a chance to do this stuff. But it really hits home that you’re an adult when you have a helicopter waiting for your direction.”

    Ozark is currently streaming on Netflix.


    Read more from Yahoo TV:

    • ‘Ozark’: Jason Bateman Is Breaking Bad
    • #TWD100: The Evolution of ‘Walking Dead’ Heroine Carol
    • Zachary Levi Finds No Fault With Ed Sheeran’s ‘Game of Thrones’ Performance

     

     

    Reblog
    Share
    Tweet
    Share

    What to Read Next

    • New Book Says It Reveals the Real Melania Trump as White House Bites Back After Cooperating with Reporter

      People
    • Justin Timberlake And Jessica Biel Have A Cheating Clause In Their Prenup?

      TheBlast
    • 'Counting On' Star Jinger Duggar Loses Partnership With Los Angeles Donut Company: 'We Made a Mistake'

      TheBlast
    • Ashley Graham Talks Sex While Pregnant: 'This Has to Be a Normal Conversation Among Mothers'

      People
    • 'Aladdin' Spinoff Series Starring Billy Magnussen Sparks Criticism From Fans

      Entertainment Tonight
    • Kim Kardashian Clowned Over Christmas Decor That Fans Say Looks 'Like Tampons'

      TheBlast
    • Laura Dern Needed a 'Full Security Detail' After Starring on Ellen DeGeneres' Coming-Out Episode

      People
    • Channing Tatum Takes Daughter Everly to See Frozen Musical After Being Declared Legally Single

      People
    • John Travolta recalls dancing the night away with Princess Diana: 'I was the Prince Charming of the evening'

      Yahoo Movies
    • Couple Sues School District for Not Alerting Them to Daughter's Suicide Threat Before Her Death

      People
    • 'Teen Mom 2' Star Jenelle Evan's Ex-Husband Sharing His 'Truth' About Violent Breakup

      TheBlast
    • Michelle Williams Says Her Mental Health Was 'Still a Little Fragile' Going onto Masked Singer

      People
    • Kimora Lee Simmons Relaunches Baby Phat with Daughters Aoki and Ming Lee, Who Star in the New Ads

      People
    • Barack Michelle Obama Just Bought a $11.75M, 7-Bedroom Martha's Vineyard Estate: Reports

      People
    • Kid Rock breaks up with Detroit, takes a shot at Al Sharpton after restaurant closure news

      USA TODAY Entertainment
    • Mom Of Missing New Jersey Little Girl Admits She Was Scratching Lottery Ticket When Daughter Vanished

      Dr. Phil CBS

    Expert: 'I’m not so sure that I trust government' on student loans

    Mickey: I also believe that colleges have HUGE endowments they use for all things OTHER than student lending. For instance Penn State has over $4.25 BILLION in endowments. Harvard $40.9 BILLION. University of Michigan, almost $12 BILLION. Yale, Texas, Stanford, Princeton all in the $20-$30 BILLION area. So, why is the tuition rising so much and so quickly again?

    Join the Conversation
    1 / 5

    1.2k

    • Kendall Jenner Grinds Up On Joan Smalls In Slew Of Sexy Miami Bar Pics

      TheBlast
    • Country Singer Kylie Rae Harris Drunk Driving, Going Over 100 MPH During Deadly Crash

      TheBlast
    • Sofia Richie's BTS Bikini Pics Cheer Up Fans On A Rainy L.A. Day

      TheBlast
    • Jenna Dewan & Christina Milian Touch Baby Bumps, Plan Play Date Next Year!

      TheBlast
    • Kylie Jenner's Daughter Stormi Is Already Snowboarding at 22 Months -- Watch Her Hit the Slopes!

      Entertainment Tonight
    • What Justin Timberlake said about falling for Jessica Biel — before PDA pics with co-star emerged

      Yahoo Celebrity
    • Did a tarot card reading predict the Rolling Stones’ Altamont disaster 50 years ago?

      Yahoo Music
    • Shannen Doherty says cancer struggle changed her: 'It just opens your heart'

      Yahoo Celebrity
    • Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel Will ‘Work Through’ His Hand-Holding with Another Woman: Source

      People
    • ’Good Husband’ Transforms Into Human Chair for Pregnant Wife When She Has Nowhere to Sit

      People
    • Jason Derulo Reposts His Revealing Underwear Photo With One Noticeable Difference

      Entertainment Tonight
    • Jussie Smollett files counterclaim against the city of Chicago

      Yahoo Entertainment
    • Wendy Williams says its 'unbelievable' Taylor Swift is named AMAs Artist of the Decade

      Yahoo Entertainment
    • Fans rejoice as Sean Spicer is eliminated on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

      Yahoo Entertainment
    • How much do you know about Disney? Find out in the Room of Doom

      Yahoo Entertainment
    • YouTube CEO defends controversial content policing practices

      Yahoo Entertainment