Almost a decade after its release Ozark creator Jason Bateman opens up about the criticism he received on the show 

Jason Bateman has been an actor for almost 50 years, since his first role in 1981, and in all those years of acting, one critic review of his role in Netflix's Ozark has really stood out for him. The Ozark review in The New York Times was not particularly a great review for the actor. Safe to say, it was an extremely terrible review, but it has managed to stay with him all this time for some reason.

In a recent conversation with Esquire, Bateman talks about the almost half a decade that he has spent acting, everything he has learnt along the way, and the little things that have stayed with him. One of the topics he touched upon was a certain review from Mike Hale in The New York Times for Ozark's pilot.

Keep reading to find out more.

Jason Bateman looks back at the Ozark review that he appreciated a lot

Eight years ago, when Ozark premiered on Netflix with Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, The New York Times didn't have kind words for the actor's performance in the pilot.

While the show, which ran for four seasons, now has an overall positive review from the audience (98% score on Rotten Tomatoes for the third season), the pilot episode, it turns out, had quite the opposite effect on The New York Times critic Mike Hale.

Bateman reveals in his conversation with Esquire that the review referred to Bateman's acting as Marty Byrde as the "aggressive blandness of an airline gate agent":

"I got a terrible review from The New York Times on the pilot of Ozark. Mike Hale basically said I was so boring to watch, it reminded him of the person that he buys a ticket from in the airport. I laughed my ass off. I appreciate those that get creative with it."

Bateman revealed that the fact that the comparison was so creative almost took the hurt out of the terrible review for him. It isn't often that actors as successful as Bateman reveal how critic reviews affect them and their craft. However, Bateman was wonderfully candid in his conversation, revealing that he subjects himself to all the critical reviews, as he is in the people-pleasing business at the end of the day, so it is important for him to know what the people watching thought about his work:

"I am a people pleaser. I care about what people think about me. I read all the reviews. I am doing these projects for public consumption, so it matters to me what the public thinks about them. It matters to me what critics think about them."

He did go on to add that even though he reads all the critical reviews to know what people think of his work, he also puts in the work to not let it make him unhappy and not proud of himself:

"But what’s most important is that the weather inside is 72 and breezy. It takes a lot of work to stay happy, to stay clear, and to be proud of yourself. You can try to drink through it, but you’re sober in the morning and you got to live in those hours too."

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