People: Jan. 29, 2007

Q&A; JASON BATEMAN

Arrested Development's straight man Jason Bateman gets to show off his inner oddball as a sleazy lawyer in Smokin' Aces

Base this guy on anyone we would know?

He was a combination of a bunch of degenerates I've known and a degenerate part of myself. I had benign polyps on my vocal cords that were removed the day after I filmed the scene. It worked well for the character because he's supposed to have been up for days. That's something comic and heartbreaking: a guy who's doing these sex, drugs and rock-'n'-roll things, but he's really a wienie...

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