Actor Jason Bateman has spoken out about an incident from the 1980s when he nearly ran over Michael Jackson on set.
The Ozark star, who guest starred on the early 2000s show Silver Spoons, has revealed in a new interview that he and co-star Rick Schroder nearly ran over Michael Jackson with their bikes when the singer paid a visit to the set.
Since it was inevitable that we’d need our bikes during our Silver Spoons at Universal, we always made sure to bring them along. He said on Jimmy Kimmel Live that Michael “was there to see [Schroder].
Bateman shot an uneasy glance at the crowd, who awkwardly responded, presumably in reference to the allegations of sexual abuse against Jackson when he was a child.
I’m not, hey, listen up! That man loved the Ricker and he loved the show! To continue his tale, Bateman said, “[Jackson] was coming onto the stage while we were zooming off, and we almost took him down.”
Bateman has already admitted this year that the ’90s were his “lost decade,” a time during which he threw himself into excessive drinking and partying.
The actor told The Guardian, “It was a combination” of factors that led him to abandon acting in favor of hedonism. Because I was constantly busy with my work as a child, I had to deliberately slow down in order to make up for my many deficiencies.
He continued, explaining that he felt compelled to reenact his “lost” youth because he “wanted to get the wiggles out.”
In his own words, Jason Bateman said, “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.”
This year, the star’s show Ozark ended after four seasons, and in May, Bateman said he had begun rewatching the series with his daughter.