These days, Jason Bateman isn’t only the funny guy. In fact, he’s become quite well known for his more serious roles and work behind the scenes on projects like Ozark. Now, he’s adding to that library of dramatic and behind-the-scenes work with the new show on Netflix’s 2025 TV schedule, Black Rabbit. So, I asked one of the show’s other directors, Ben Semanoff, what it’s like working with the actor in front of and behind the camera, and he told me why it’s kind of like marriage counseling in the best way.
Ozark ended back in 2022. Bateman directed nine episodes of the beloved series, and now, he’s making his return to both directing and acting on television with Black Rabbit – which you can stream with a Netflix subscription. He directed the first two episodes and starred in all eight, meaning he collaborated with three other directors on the project. This included Ben Semanoff, who spoke to CinemaBlend about the show and his relationship with the actor, director and executive producer.
Since the Arrested Development star wears so many hats, he’s never just in actor or director mode. Semanoff told me that that’s a good thing too. So, when they collaborate together, they’re able to have deep, constructive and impactful conversations…like marriage counseling, as he explained:
We've worked together for many years. And I sort of describe it as if you were sort of standing off the sidelines watching the two of us discuss how a scene is going to play out, it's sort of like if you can imagine a couple in marriage counseling. And they whip out the puppets, so that they can sort of role-play through puppets. And they've been armed with all these really great skills for discussing ideas in an ultra-constructive way.
Much like Ozark, Bateman is doing a lot of heavy lifting on this new streaming show, Black Rabbit, both on screen and off. Also, to add another connective thread, Semanoff directed some of Ozark, so he already had a working relationship with the actor/director going into this new thrilling series.
To that point, he illustrated how their conversations went on set, and it really kind of does feel like therapy. It seems like these two were able to have an open, honest and constructive dialogue that led to the best choices for the show, as Semanoff explained:
And that's kind of what the two of us [do.] ‘Oh, I understand what you're trying to do. That's interesting. But what if we did this?’ ‘Oh, I see where you're coming from.’ And it's kind of a really fun banter that I – quite honestly, I think it pushes both of us to do our best work.
Truly, Black Rabbit is an incredible series. It’s a dark and gritty tale about two brothers, named Jake and Vince, who are played by Jude Law and Jason Bateman, respectively, and what happens when Vince returns home and brings some major trouble with him.
The episodes Semanoff directed, 5 and 6, are arguably the most intense and climactic installments in the show. They feature major falling outs, a huge shootout, and an episode that’s formatted in chapters, which is unlike any other episode in the show.
When I asked the director about a memorable marriage-counseling-like moment between him and Bateman during his episodes, he chose a scene in Episode 6 that involved Don Harvey’s character, Matt, as Vince barged into his apartment wearing only underwear. It involves a lot of movement through rooms, and Semanoff told me that this created a challenge as they were filming that required them to change things a bit. He explained:
All these little changes then start to require a new sort of vision or idea for execution. And it was one of those things where the two of us were sort of bantering back and forth about, sort of like, ‘No, Jason, I’m gonna play this as a oner. ‘Oh, you’re gonna play this as a oner. Oh, I see what you're doing. Oh, where's the camera going to be?’ ‘I'm gonna put the camera here.’ ‘Oh, I see. Well, how can that work?’ ‘All right, let me explain how this can work.’ And it was fun.
Comparing this collaboration to marriage counseling is such a thoughtful way to put it. In this job, these creatives have to have tough conversations and fearlessly speak their minds. By doing that, and taking constructive feedback in, it helps create a better product.
I mean, there’s a reason Ozark was so hyped up, and I wouldn’t be shocked if that’s in part thanks to this collaboration between Bateman and the other directors, like Semanoff, on the show. Now, it seems that it has transferred over to Black Rabbit, too, which you can stream in full on Netflix.
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