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Christian Slater, Heathers, 1988. In the morbidly funny tweenage angst opus, JD could have been Jason Bateman, Jim Carrey, Judd Nelson – or Brad Pitt, who got his revenge two years later by beating Slater to another (but career-making) JD in Thelma and Louise.
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Ben Stiller, The Heartbreak Kid, 2007. Bateman and Amy Poehler were first cast in the hopeleess (and, as usual, unecessary) rehash of the 1971 Neil Simon script (Jerry Seinfeld’s all-time favourite comedy) with Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd. No contest! Stiller and Michelle Monaghan had the Farrelly brothers directing, not the great Elaine May.
- Adam Sandler, Funny People,2008. The new Mayor (for some reason) of movie mirth. LA auteur Judd Apatow said if he could get his old room-mate for the lead (and Sandler had issues with some of the sexist jokes), the next names of his list were:Jason or Paul Rudd.
- Chris Pine, Rise of the Guardians, 2011. Bateman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sam Rockwell and Jim Sturgess were on the voice list Jack Frost in the DreamWorks toon about saving childhood, itself, from Jude Law’s dreaded Pitch Black. Other guardians included Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and a Santa Claus complete with tatts and a Russian accent!
- Jason Sudeikis, We’re The Millers, 2012. Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Steve Buscemi all lost out on of having Jennifer Aniston’s stripper posing as the wife of a fake family, looking so innocent, while smuggling “enough weed to kill Willie Nelson” into the US. This is one of the five films Aniston made with Sudeikis, which almost makes up for two with Adam Sandler.
- Scott Adsit, Big Hero 6, 2014 “We didn’t set out to be superheroes. But sometimes life doesn’t go the way you planned.” Jason Bateman, Josh Gad, Dennis Leary, John Leguizamo, Danny McBride, Ray Romano and Jason Sudeikis were seen (and heard!) for voicing Baymax in Disney’s first Marvel subject – winning the best animation Oscar. It unfurls in 2023 (we all know that computer battery number, right?) in San Fransokyo (‘Frisco rebuilt by the Japanese after an earthquake) and deals with a super-troupe behind the titular collective name… that nobody ever uses. “I wanted a robot that we had never seen before,” ordered co-director Don Hall “Something wholly original.” He sure got it. Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers said the film “would be a ton less fun without this irresistible blob of roly-poly, robot charisma.”
- Josh Lucas, Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House, 2017. Bateman’s Ozark gig tore him away from the true story of the famous Watergate whistle-blower nicknamed by Washington Post journo as Deep Throat – played by Liam Neeson. (The French title (which was in English!) made it sound a gay yarn: The Silent Man Mark Felt).
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 7