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Perhaps no moment better defines “Arrested Development” than a recent attempt by Tony Hale, who plays the high-strung, blissfully immature (and one-handed) Buster Bluth, to set up a promotional clip on “Conan.”
“I don’t even know how to explain this,” Mr. Hale said.
The show, created by Mitchell Hurwitz, has always been difficult to characterize. The zany, self-referential sitcom tracking a narcissistic family as they dodge the claws (or hook!) of justice was critically adoredwhen it debuted in 2003, but failed to build an audience over three seasons on Fox. It remained a cult favorite, its disciples ever clamoring for more banana stands, stair cars, cousins in love and $5,000 suits (Come on!). But Netflix’s convoluted revival in 2013 left many fans cold. (Mr. Hurwitz recently re-edited those episodes.)
Now it’s back for a fifth season — debuting May 29 — and there’s a cloud hanging over the Bluths’ model home. One of the show’s stars, Jeffrey Tambor (George Sr.), was accused of sexual misconduct on the set of “Transparent,” allegations he denied but that still resulted in his being fired from the show. When the accusations emerged, “Arrested Development” had nearly finished production; Mr. Hurwitz and the cast members expressed support for Mr. Tambor.
This week many of the actors got together for a group interview about the new season, including Mr. Tambor, Mr. Hale, Jason Bateman (Michael), Alia Shawkat (Maeby Fünke), Jessica Walter (Lucille), Will Arnett (Gob) and David Cross (Tobias Fünke).
“I have to let go of being angry at him,” Ms. Walter said through tears, as Mr. Tambor sat a few feet away. In “almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set and it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now.”
When Mr. Bateman painted Mr. Tambor’s behavior as typical of certain performers, Ms. Shawkat interjected: “But that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.”
[Read Jason Bateman’s apology.]
It was a notably raw interlude for a cast better known for absurd antics, and it reflected the emotional complexities of Hollywood’s ongoing reckoning with toxic male behavior. It was also just part of a wide-ranging interview that touched on awkward fans, the comedic limitations of the Trump family and how long these actors can keep playing the Bluths. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
We Sat Down With the ‘Arrested Development’ Cast. It Got Raw.
Fan devotion to this show is legendary. Who has a good story about an interaction in the street?
DAVID CROSS Oh, Will does.
TONY HALE He’s got the best.
WILL ARNETT I’ve had so many bizarre interactions. Of course, you’re always happy to meet somebody who’s a fan of the show, and our fans tend to be particularly enthusiastic. And then you’ll be on the subway and someone will come up and go, “C’mon!” Very jarring. Or they’ll ask you to do the chicken dance at Penn Station. And you don’t want to because you’re at Penn Station.
JESSICA WALTER I get a lot of — especially on the subway and buses here in New York — “You know, you look a lot like that woman that plays Lucille Bluth.” I say, “You know, I’ve heard that.”
ARNETT Because they don’t expect her to be driving the subway.
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The Times needs your voice. We welcome your on-topic commentary, criticism and expertise.
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The fifth season of “Arrested Development” arrives nearly 15 years after the show debuted on Fox, in November 2003.CreditAaron Richter for The New York Times
You have played these characters off and on for 15 years. When it came time to return for the Netflix seasons, did it come right back? Did you rewatch old seasons?
WALTER You know Lucille is in my DNA now.
ARNETT [Sarcastic] No!
WALTER I want you to say in the article, there’s so much testosterone in this room.
ARNETT But there’s a lot of love.
WALTER Of course, there is some of me in the character. Only some. I just so have it in my system.
ARNETT And I think also, when we get together, the chemistry brings it all to the surface.
JEFFREY TAMBOR It’s chemistry and also confidence. Because you see the others, and it just brings up your confidence level. Acting is not only what you send, but what you receive.
ARNETT What I always enjoy about this show, and it’s never waned, is the feeling that nobody’s worried about falling on their face. Everybody takes chances.
Alia, you were 14 when the pilot shot. How do you view your experience?
ALIA SHAWKAT It’s very surreal doing a job for 15 years. Especially transitioning from a child into an adult. When we finished, I was 18, and I didn’t work for a little while because I was reading [expletive], I was like, “This is just a bad version of an angsty teen.” I was like, “I can’t do this.”
Tony, there’s no learning curve for you in dealing with Buster’s gigantic hand, or hook, or jeweled hook?
CROSS His hand is fake. He’s wearing it.
HALE It’s very good, it’s very expensive. In all honesty, when we came back for the fourth season, I did have some anxiety about if we could match expectations. But to Will’s point of being around the cast, there was something about Jessica’s voice, which is a lovely voice, when she says, “Buster.” It’s a very degrading, passive-aggressive tone. It was kind of Pavlovian. Gob and Buster are such opposites, so being around that energy definitely helps.
Is there much improv on the set?
TAMBOR I get that question a lot. “Did you guys just make it up?” It is a credit to the writing because Mitch Hurwitz and company, they are really whips, and there are so many layers to this. It’s very word-specific.
ARNETT There’s certain things that you have to hit.
JASON BATEMAN And want to hit.
ARNETT One of the hallmarks of this show is that, for the most part, all the jokes continue to move story forward. And so they’re not just disposable jokes that are zeitgeisty.
CROSS You know what I wish we had, now that you’re saying that? I wish we had had a bottle episode. Where we’re all, the entire cast is just stuck, trapped, something.
TAMBOR Oh, that would be wonderful.
CROSS How much fun would that be?
WALTER Stuck in an elevator!
Taking On Trump
Whatever criticisms there were of Season 4, it was remarkably prescient. You guys had the border wall before Trump did, and there was a subplot about “Fake Block” and privacy.
CROSS I think it may turn out to be slightly burdensome, in that people who don’t realize that was five years ago are going to mistakenly think, “Oh they’re jumping on and trying to shoehorn in —”
WALTER Oh, but we actually filmed it six years ago.
CROSS I think most people will get that. But I think some people, no fault of their own, are just sort of lazy when they’re consuming entertainment and won’t make that connection. I tried to help it by aging dramatically between seasons.
You take on Trump a lot more directly in this season. How does the show navigate that?
Image
Portia de Rossi in the new season of “Arrested Development” as Lindsay, the Ivanka Trump of the Bluth family.CreditSaeed Adyani/Netflix
Image
There’s always comedy in the banana stand — Ms. Walter, Mr. Tambor, Mr. Cross and Mr. Arnett in the new season.CreditSaeed Adyani/Netflix
ARNETT There’s not a lot that’s actually really all that funny about the Trumps. They’re not particularly funny in any way.
BATEMAN Well, they were. Now it’s just straight depressing.
Were there jokes in the new season that were either scaled back or dropped because it was just too real?
ARNETT Too real and also too boring.
BATEMAN And too easy. It’s such a big fat target.
WALTER I think Mitch had said he had to scale back on it a little. It’s too obvious now. And you know, it’s almost as if our family, just by themselves, are the Trumps. You’ve got the two dysfunctional sons. You’ve got Portia as Ivanka. George and Lucille. Although Melania, no, I don’t think we could compare Melania — Melania is the only one who is sort of likable.
BATEMAN Lazy, morally bankrupt people.
WALTER The Bluths are fun, though.
CROSS The Bluths have no fans. The Trumps are where they are and we’re where we are because they spoke to a lot of people out there that wanted to hear the [expletive] they were selling. And it’s weird, too, because personally, I’m speaking as me, I’m the only Trump supporter in this group. [Note: This was sarcasm.]
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‘I Hurt People’s Feelings’
I have to address the elephant in the room, which is the allegations from the “Transparent” set. The “Arrested Development” cast has been publicly supportive. Jeffrey, if there’s another season, do you expect to be a part of it?
TAMBOR I surely hope so.
BATEMAN Well, I won’t do it without you. I can tell you that.
TAMBOR Well thank you, that’s very, very, very sweet. I hope so. I love these people, and Netflix has been so supportive and Mitch has been so supportive. I sent out an email to these guys and I just said, “I’m so thankful and sorry for the distraction and you have to be asked these questions and such.” And I went much further into it with The Hollywood Reporter, and I’ve denied the allegations but the upshot is I won’t be playing Maura anymore. I’m going to miss that cast. I love that cast, and the answer is I would love to do “Arrested.” I love these people. I love George Sr. I love Oscar [George Sr.’s twin brother]. I’m such a fan of this.
BATEMAN And there’s no reason he shouldn’t.
TAMBOR This is their best season. They knock it out of the park. These are home run hitters. These guys in this room, and they are just walking acting lessons and inspirers.
From the Hollywood Reporter interview, you talked about how you yelled at directors, assistant directors, the “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway. You even said at one point you lashed out at —
WALTER Jessica Walter.
[LAUGHTER]
BATEMAN Which we’ve all done, by the way.
WALTER Oh! You’ve never yelled at me.
BATEMAN Not to belittle what happened.
WALTER You’ve never yelled at me like that.
BATEMAN But this is a family and families, you know, have love, laughter, arguments — again, not to belittle it, but a lot of stuff happens in 15 years. I know nothing about “Transparent” but I do know a lot about “Arrested Development.” And I can say that no matter what anybody in this room has ever done — and we’ve all done a lot, with each other, for each other, against each other — I wouldn’t trade it for the world and I have zero complaints.
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ARNETT I can say that I keyed Bateman’s car. I never admitted that. Because I was like, look at this guy, taking up a spot and a half.
CROSS You know, one thing that Jeffrey has said a number of times that I think is important, that you don’t often hear from somebody in his position, is that he learned from the experience and he’s listening and learning and growing. That’s important to remember.
WALTER [TO THE TIMES] What was your point about that, though?
If someone approached you and said, “O.K., here’s an actor that admits he routinely yells at directors, at assistant directors, at co-workers, assistants,” would you hire that person?
Image
Ms. Shawkat in an “Arrested Development” scene. “It’s very surreal doing a job for 15 years,” she said.CreditSaeed Adyani/Netflix
TAMBOR I would hire that person if that person said, you know, “I’ve reckoned with this.”
And you feel like you have?
TAMBOR And I have, and am continuing to do. And I profusely have apologized. Ms. Walter is indeed a walking acting lesson. And on “Transparent,” you know, I had a temper and I yelled at people and I hurt people’s feelings. And that’s unconscionable, and I’m working on it and I’m going to put that behind me, and I love acting.
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BATEMAN Again, not to belittle it or excuse it or anything, but in the entertainment industry it is incredibly common to have people who are, in quotes, “difficult.” And when you’re in a privileged position to hire people, or have an influence in who does get hired, you make phone calls. And you say, “Hey, so I’ve heard X about person Y, tell me about that.” And what you learn is context. And you learn about character and you learn about work habits, work ethics, and you start to understand. Because it’s a very amorphous process, this sort of [expletive] that we do, you know, making up fake life. It’s a weird thing, and it is a breeding ground for atypical behavior and certain people have certain processes.
SHAWKAT But that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable. And the point is that things are changing, and people need to respect each other differently.
WALTER [THROUGH TEARS] Let me just say one thing that I just realized in this conversation. I have to let go of being angry at him. He never crossed the line on our show, with any, you know, sexual whatever. Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize. I have to let it go. [Turns to Tambor.] And I have to give you a chance to, you know, for us to be friends again.
TAMBOR Absolutely.
WALTER But it’s hard because honestly — Jason says this happens all the time. In like almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set. And it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now. I just let it go right here, for The New York Times.
BATEMAN She didn’t give it up for anybody else.
HALE But I will say, to Jason’s point, we can be honest about the fact that — and not to build a thing — we’ve all had moments.
WALTER But not like that, not like that. That was bad.
HALE Not like that. But I’m saying we’ve worked together 15 years, there has been other points of anger coming out.
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BATEMAN Exactly. Again, there is context. What we do for a living is not normal, and therefore the process is not normal sometimes, and to expect it to be normal is to not understand what happens on set. Again, not to excuse it, Alia, but to be surprised by people having a wobbly route to their goal, their process — it’s very rarely predictable. All I can say, personally, is I have never learned more from an actor that I’ve worked with than Jeffrey Tambor. And I consider him one of my favorite, most valued people in my life.
CROSS I agree with everybody. And I think it’s important to note — and it hasn’t been noted — that this kind of behavior that’s being described, it didn’t just come out of the blue. It wasn’t zero to 60. There is a cumulative effect sometimes.
BATEMAN You have different people’s processes that converge and collide at times. So Jeffrey is not just popping off, coming out of his car and some unhinged guy.
CROSS That’s what I’m trying to say.
BATEMAN Not to say that you know, you [Walter] had it coming. But this is not in a vacuum — families come together and certain dynamics collide and clash every once in a while. And there’s all kinds of things that go into the stew so it’s a little narrow to single that one particular thing that is getting attention from our show.
WALTER Only because you brought it up, Jeffrey, in that article! I never would have brought it up.
BATEMAN I didn’t mean to speak for you. That was part of his process of being as contrite and as transparent as he felt like he could and should be, and wanted to at the time.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea what it’s like to be on a set. I’ve never been on one. But it seems like Jason is saying that this is part of the process. But that’s not what you’re saying, Jessica.
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WALTER That’s correct.
I realize this is an awkward question to ask with Jeffrey in the room. But do you have reservations about working with him again?
WALTER Of course not. No. I’ve just given it up. And you know, there’s something really, really freeing about that now. I realize that. I don’t want to walk around with anger. I respect him as an actor. We’ve known each other for years and years and years. No, no, no, no. Of course, I would work with him again in a heartbeat.
On 15 Years of Bluthdom
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Mr. Bateman and Mr. Cera in a scene from the original run of “Arrested Development” on Fox.CreditSam Urdank/Fox
These roles defined you in many ways. Are you ever ready to just move on?
HALE What helps me is I love the show so much. I’m such a big fan, so when people come up to us and they talk about the show, there’s a lot of stuff I’ve forgotten. So it’s fun to see the jokes that I missed.
ARNETT From the first moment that we all worked together, we got a sense that there was a chemistry and that there was something about this group of people that worked. Through the good, and the bad, and the difficult, and the highs of winning the Emmy, when we all stood on that stage in 2004, there is something that drives us together. And I can tell you from my own personal experience being with these people, even through moments that are seemingly difficult in this room, whatever it is, it’s a process that I enjoy. These are people that I enjoy being with and creating with.
WALTER You can sort of tell we’re like the Bluths, can’t you? The thing I wanted to say was 15 years ago, writers weren’t writing juicy Lucille Bluth roles. It was very hard for a woman of a certain age, which was 62, to get a wonderful role like this. And it really put me back sort of on the shorter list. It really, for a lot of us, upped our careers.
CROSS Everyone.
WALTER Everybody. The kids started out, look at them now. And all of us, what it’s done for us. It has so much meaning for me. I’ll play this until I die, with my wheelchair and my cane, if they ask me.
“I don’t even know how to explain this,” Mr. Hale said.
The show, created by Mitchell Hurwitz, has always been difficult to characterize. The zany, self-referential sitcom tracking a narcissistic family as they dodge the claws (or hook!) of justice was critically adoredwhen it debuted in 2003, but failed to build an audience over three seasons on Fox. It remained a cult favorite, its disciples ever clamoring for more banana stands, stair cars, cousins in love and $5,000 suits (Come on!). But Netflix’s convoluted revival in 2013 left many fans cold. (Mr. Hurwitz recently re-edited those episodes.)
Now it’s back for a fifth season — debuting May 29 — and there’s a cloud hanging over the Bluths’ model home. One of the show’s stars, Jeffrey Tambor (George Sr.), was accused of sexual misconduct on the set of “Transparent,” allegations he denied but that still resulted in his being fired from the show. When the accusations emerged, “Arrested Development” had nearly finished production; Mr. Hurwitz and the cast members expressed support for Mr. Tambor.
This week many of the actors got together for a group interview about the new season, including Mr. Tambor, Mr. Hale, Jason Bateman (Michael), Alia Shawkat (Maeby Fünke), Jessica Walter (Lucille), Will Arnett (Gob) and David Cross (Tobias Fünke).
“I have to let go of being angry at him,” Ms. Walter said through tears, as Mr. Tambor sat a few feet away. In “almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set and it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now.”
When Mr. Bateman painted Mr. Tambor’s behavior as typical of certain performers, Ms. Shawkat interjected: “But that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.”
[Read Jason Bateman’s apology.]
It was a notably raw interlude for a cast better known for absurd antics, and it reflected the emotional complexities of Hollywood’s ongoing reckoning with toxic male behavior. It was also just part of a wide-ranging interview that touched on awkward fans, the comedic limitations of the Trump family and how long these actors can keep playing the Bluths. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
We Sat Down With the ‘Arrested Development’ Cast. It Got Raw.
Fan devotion to this show is legendary. Who has a good story about an interaction in the street?
DAVID CROSS Oh, Will does.
TONY HALE He’s got the best.
WILL ARNETT I’ve had so many bizarre interactions. Of course, you’re always happy to meet somebody who’s a fan of the show, and our fans tend to be particularly enthusiastic. And then you’ll be on the subway and someone will come up and go, “C’mon!” Very jarring. Or they’ll ask you to do the chicken dance at Penn Station. And you don’t want to because you’re at Penn Station.
JESSICA WALTER I get a lot of — especially on the subway and buses here in New York — “You know, you look a lot like that woman that plays Lucille Bluth.” I say, “You know, I’ve heard that.”
ARNETT Because they don’t expect her to be driving the subway.
Comments
The Times needs your voice. We welcome your on-topic commentary, criticism and expertise.
Image
The fifth season of “Arrested Development” arrives nearly 15 years after the show debuted on Fox, in November 2003.CreditAaron Richter for The New York Times
You have played these characters off and on for 15 years. When it came time to return for the Netflix seasons, did it come right back? Did you rewatch old seasons?
WALTER You know Lucille is in my DNA now.
ARNETT [Sarcastic] No!
WALTER I want you to say in the article, there’s so much testosterone in this room.
ARNETT But there’s a lot of love.
WALTER Of course, there is some of me in the character. Only some. I just so have it in my system.
ARNETT And I think also, when we get together, the chemistry brings it all to the surface.
JEFFREY TAMBOR It’s chemistry and also confidence. Because you see the others, and it just brings up your confidence level. Acting is not only what you send, but what you receive.
ARNETT What I always enjoy about this show, and it’s never waned, is the feeling that nobody’s worried about falling on their face. Everybody takes chances.
Alia, you were 14 when the pilot shot. How do you view your experience?
ALIA SHAWKAT It’s very surreal doing a job for 15 years. Especially transitioning from a child into an adult. When we finished, I was 18, and I didn’t work for a little while because I was reading [expletive], I was like, “This is just a bad version of an angsty teen.” I was like, “I can’t do this.”
Tony, there’s no learning curve for you in dealing with Buster’s gigantic hand, or hook, or jeweled hook?
CROSS His hand is fake. He’s wearing it.
HALE It’s very good, it’s very expensive. In all honesty, when we came back for the fourth season, I did have some anxiety about if we could match expectations. But to Will’s point of being around the cast, there was something about Jessica’s voice, which is a lovely voice, when she says, “Buster.” It’s a very degrading, passive-aggressive tone. It was kind of Pavlovian. Gob and Buster are such opposites, so being around that energy definitely helps.
Is there much improv on the set?
TAMBOR I get that question a lot. “Did you guys just make it up?” It is a credit to the writing because Mitch Hurwitz and company, they are really whips, and there are so many layers to this. It’s very word-specific.
ARNETT There’s certain things that you have to hit.
JASON BATEMAN And want to hit.
ARNETT One of the hallmarks of this show is that, for the most part, all the jokes continue to move story forward. And so they’re not just disposable jokes that are zeitgeisty.
CROSS You know what I wish we had, now that you’re saying that? I wish we had had a bottle episode. Where we’re all, the entire cast is just stuck, trapped, something.
TAMBOR Oh, that would be wonderful.
CROSS How much fun would that be?
WALTER Stuck in an elevator!
Taking On Trump
Whatever criticisms there were of Season 4, it was remarkably prescient. You guys had the border wall before Trump did, and there was a subplot about “Fake Block” and privacy.
CROSS I think it may turn out to be slightly burdensome, in that people who don’t realize that was five years ago are going to mistakenly think, “Oh they’re jumping on and trying to shoehorn in —”
WALTER Oh, but we actually filmed it six years ago.
CROSS I think most people will get that. But I think some people, no fault of their own, are just sort of lazy when they’re consuming entertainment and won’t make that connection. I tried to help it by aging dramatically between seasons.
You take on Trump a lot more directly in this season. How does the show navigate that?
Image
Portia de Rossi in the new season of “Arrested Development” as Lindsay, the Ivanka Trump of the Bluth family.CreditSaeed Adyani/Netflix
Image
There’s always comedy in the banana stand — Ms. Walter, Mr. Tambor, Mr. Cross and Mr. Arnett in the new season.CreditSaeed Adyani/Netflix
ARNETT There’s not a lot that’s actually really all that funny about the Trumps. They’re not particularly funny in any way.
BATEMAN Well, they were. Now it’s just straight depressing.
Were there jokes in the new season that were either scaled back or dropped because it was just too real?
ARNETT Too real and also too boring.
BATEMAN And too easy. It’s such a big fat target.
WALTER I think Mitch had said he had to scale back on it a little. It’s too obvious now. And you know, it’s almost as if our family, just by themselves, are the Trumps. You’ve got the two dysfunctional sons. You’ve got Portia as Ivanka. George and Lucille. Although Melania, no, I don’t think we could compare Melania — Melania is the only one who is sort of likable.
BATEMAN Lazy, morally bankrupt people.
WALTER The Bluths are fun, though.
CROSS The Bluths have no fans. The Trumps are where they are and we’re where we are because they spoke to a lot of people out there that wanted to hear the [expletive] they were selling. And it’s weird, too, because personally, I’m speaking as me, I’m the only Trump supporter in this group. [Note: This was sarcasm.]
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‘I Hurt People’s Feelings’
I have to address the elephant in the room, which is the allegations from the “Transparent” set. The “Arrested Development” cast has been publicly supportive. Jeffrey, if there’s another season, do you expect to be a part of it?
TAMBOR I surely hope so.
BATEMAN Well, I won’t do it without you. I can tell you that.
TAMBOR Well thank you, that’s very, very, very sweet. I hope so. I love these people, and Netflix has been so supportive and Mitch has been so supportive. I sent out an email to these guys and I just said, “I’m so thankful and sorry for the distraction and you have to be asked these questions and such.” And I went much further into it with The Hollywood Reporter, and I’ve denied the allegations but the upshot is I won’t be playing Maura anymore. I’m going to miss that cast. I love that cast, and the answer is I would love to do “Arrested.” I love these people. I love George Sr. I love Oscar [George Sr.’s twin brother]. I’m such a fan of this.
BATEMAN And there’s no reason he shouldn’t.
TAMBOR This is their best season. They knock it out of the park. These are home run hitters. These guys in this room, and they are just walking acting lessons and inspirers.
From the Hollywood Reporter interview, you talked about how you yelled at directors, assistant directors, the “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway. You even said at one point you lashed out at —
WALTER Jessica Walter.
[LAUGHTER]
BATEMAN Which we’ve all done, by the way.
WALTER Oh! You’ve never yelled at me.
BATEMAN Not to belittle what happened.
WALTER You’ve never yelled at me like that.
BATEMAN But this is a family and families, you know, have love, laughter, arguments — again, not to belittle it, but a lot of stuff happens in 15 years. I know nothing about “Transparent” but I do know a lot about “Arrested Development.” And I can say that no matter what anybody in this room has ever done — and we’ve all done a lot, with each other, for each other, against each other — I wouldn’t trade it for the world and I have zero complaints.
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ARNETT I can say that I keyed Bateman’s car. I never admitted that. Because I was like, look at this guy, taking up a spot and a half.
CROSS You know, one thing that Jeffrey has said a number of times that I think is important, that you don’t often hear from somebody in his position, is that he learned from the experience and he’s listening and learning and growing. That’s important to remember.
WALTER [TO THE TIMES] What was your point about that, though?
If someone approached you and said, “O.K., here’s an actor that admits he routinely yells at directors, at assistant directors, at co-workers, assistants,” would you hire that person?
Image
Ms. Shawkat in an “Arrested Development” scene. “It’s very surreal doing a job for 15 years,” she said.CreditSaeed Adyani/Netflix
TAMBOR I would hire that person if that person said, you know, “I’ve reckoned with this.”
And you feel like you have?
TAMBOR And I have, and am continuing to do. And I profusely have apologized. Ms. Walter is indeed a walking acting lesson. And on “Transparent,” you know, I had a temper and I yelled at people and I hurt people’s feelings. And that’s unconscionable, and I’m working on it and I’m going to put that behind me, and I love acting.
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BATEMAN Again, not to belittle it or excuse it or anything, but in the entertainment industry it is incredibly common to have people who are, in quotes, “difficult.” And when you’re in a privileged position to hire people, or have an influence in who does get hired, you make phone calls. And you say, “Hey, so I’ve heard X about person Y, tell me about that.” And what you learn is context. And you learn about character and you learn about work habits, work ethics, and you start to understand. Because it’s a very amorphous process, this sort of [expletive] that we do, you know, making up fake life. It’s a weird thing, and it is a breeding ground for atypical behavior and certain people have certain processes.
SHAWKAT But that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable. And the point is that things are changing, and people need to respect each other differently.
WALTER [THROUGH TEARS] Let me just say one thing that I just realized in this conversation. I have to let go of being angry at him. He never crossed the line on our show, with any, you know, sexual whatever. Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize. I have to let it go. [Turns to Tambor.] And I have to give you a chance to, you know, for us to be friends again.
TAMBOR Absolutely.
WALTER But it’s hard because honestly — Jason says this happens all the time. In like almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set. And it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now. I just let it go right here, for The New York Times.
BATEMAN She didn’t give it up for anybody else.
HALE But I will say, to Jason’s point, we can be honest about the fact that — and not to build a thing — we’ve all had moments.
WALTER But not like that, not like that. That was bad.
HALE Not like that. But I’m saying we’ve worked together 15 years, there has been other points of anger coming out.
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BATEMAN Exactly. Again, there is context. What we do for a living is not normal, and therefore the process is not normal sometimes, and to expect it to be normal is to not understand what happens on set. Again, not to excuse it, Alia, but to be surprised by people having a wobbly route to their goal, their process — it’s very rarely predictable. All I can say, personally, is I have never learned more from an actor that I’ve worked with than Jeffrey Tambor. And I consider him one of my favorite, most valued people in my life.
CROSS I agree with everybody. And I think it’s important to note — and it hasn’t been noted — that this kind of behavior that’s being described, it didn’t just come out of the blue. It wasn’t zero to 60. There is a cumulative effect sometimes.
BATEMAN You have different people’s processes that converge and collide at times. So Jeffrey is not just popping off, coming out of his car and some unhinged guy.
CROSS That’s what I’m trying to say.
BATEMAN Not to say that you know, you [Walter] had it coming. But this is not in a vacuum — families come together and certain dynamics collide and clash every once in a while. And there’s all kinds of things that go into the stew so it’s a little narrow to single that one particular thing that is getting attention from our show.
WALTER Only because you brought it up, Jeffrey, in that article! I never would have brought it up.
BATEMAN I didn’t mean to speak for you. That was part of his process of being as contrite and as transparent as he felt like he could and should be, and wanted to at the time.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea what it’s like to be on a set. I’ve never been on one. But it seems like Jason is saying that this is part of the process. But that’s not what you’re saying, Jessica.
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WALTER That’s correct.
I realize this is an awkward question to ask with Jeffrey in the room. But do you have reservations about working with him again?
WALTER Of course not. No. I’ve just given it up. And you know, there’s something really, really freeing about that now. I realize that. I don’t want to walk around with anger. I respect him as an actor. We’ve known each other for years and years and years. No, no, no, no. Of course, I would work with him again in a heartbeat.
On 15 Years of Bluthdom
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Mr. Bateman and Mr. Cera in a scene from the original run of “Arrested Development” on Fox.CreditSam Urdank/Fox
These roles defined you in many ways. Are you ever ready to just move on?
HALE What helps me is I love the show so much. I’m such a big fan, so when people come up to us and they talk about the show, there’s a lot of stuff I’ve forgotten. So it’s fun to see the jokes that I missed.
ARNETT From the first moment that we all worked together, we got a sense that there was a chemistry and that there was something about this group of people that worked. Through the good, and the bad, and the difficult, and the highs of winning the Emmy, when we all stood on that stage in 2004, there is something that drives us together. And I can tell you from my own personal experience being with these people, even through moments that are seemingly difficult in this room, whatever it is, it’s a process that I enjoy. These are people that I enjoy being with and creating with.
WALTER You can sort of tell we’re like the Bluths, can’t you? The thing I wanted to say was 15 years ago, writers weren’t writing juicy Lucille Bluth roles. It was very hard for a woman of a certain age, which was 62, to get a wonderful role like this. And it really put me back sort of on the shorter list. It really, for a lot of us, upped our careers.
CROSS Everyone.
WALTER Everybody. The kids started out, look at them now. And all of us, what it’s done for us. It has so much meaning for me. I’ll play this until I die, with my wheelchair and my cane, if they ask me.
Jason Bateman Apologizes to Jessica Walter Over Jeffrey Tambor Comments
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Jason Bateman, right, in the new season of “Arrested Development” with other cast members: from left, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor, Lauren Weedman, Will Arnett and David Cross. Mr. Bateman apologized for comments in a New York Times interview.CreditSaeed Adyani/Netflix
By Sopan Deb
Mr. Bateman addressed the interview with several posts on Twitter:
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Jason Bateman, right, in the new season of “Arrested Development” with other cast members: from left, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor, Lauren Weedman, Will Arnett and David Cross. Mr. Bateman apologized for comments in a New York Times interview.CreditSaeed Adyani/Netflix
By Sopan Deb
- May 24, 2018
Mr. Bateman addressed the interview with several posts on Twitter:
breh
TAMBOR And I have, and am continuing to do. And I profusely have apologized. Ms. Walter is indeed a walking acting lesson. And on “Transparent,” you know, I had a temper and I yelled at people and I hurt people’s feelings. And that’s unconscionable, and I’m working on it and I’m going to put that behind me, and I love acting.
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BATEMAN Again, not to belittle it or excuse it or anything, but in the entertainment industry it is incredibly common to have people who are, in quotes, “difficult.” And when you’re in a privileged position to hire people, or have an influence in who does get hired, you make phone calls. And you say, “Hey, so I’ve heard X about person Y, tell me about that.” And what you learn is context. And you learn about character and you learn about work habits, work ethics, and you start to understand. Because it’s a very amorphous process, this sort of [expletive] that we do, you know, making up fake life. It’s a weird thing, and it is a breeding ground for atypical behavior and certain people have certain processes.
SHAWKAT But that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable. And the point is that things are changing, and people need to respect each other differently.
WALTER [THROUGH TEARS] Let me just say one thing that I just realized in this conversation. I have to let go of being angry at him. He never crossed the line on our show, with any, you know, sexual whatever. Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize. I have to let it go. [Turns to Tambor.] And I have to give you a chance to, you know, for us to be friends again.
TAMBOR Absolutely.
WALTER But it’s hard because honestly — Jason says this happens all the time. In like almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set. And it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now. I just let it go right here, for The New York Times.
BATEMAN She didn’t give it up for anybody else.
HALE But I will say, to Jason’s point, we can be honest about the fact that — and not to build a thing — we’ve all had moments.
WALTER But not like that, not like that. That was bad.
HALE Not like that. But I’m saying we’ve worked together 15 years, there has been other points of anger coming out.
synopsis??
curious as to what the hell is going on, but not curious enough to read a gotdam hundred volume encyclopedia
about the muthafucka..
curious as to what the hell is going on, but not curious enough to read a gotdam hundred volume encyclopedia
about the muthafucka..
ok thanks playahatian, but who is the dude who dissed the chick, and what did he actually say tho....
in your opinion
was it really that serious or just some cacs over reacting???
Not reading all that shit but what im getting from skimming is someone is upset that they were getting yelled at?
I don't know if you watch the actual show
@fonzerrillii did I think
but the girl who was mad young at the time called out Jeffery Tambor...
who was recently outed by #metoo
and who played her grandfather on the show
as bulling her a lot while they were on the show
and she was getting emotional cause he KINDA apologized but then ALL the other MALE actors on the show actually came to Tambor DEFENSE
AGAINST the girl.
To the point where they dint even say he DID NOT bully her
but basically caping him up, like he ALWAYS like that
when the article drops mad people are shocked that Jason Bateman...
who is reportedly a real "nice" guy
didn't support the girl
he tries the backtrack of course
and the AUDIO gets out too
he QUICKLY does a HUGE apology on twitter.
So in my eyes?
First off Tambor needed to just shut up and take it.
He almost lost his ENTIRE career off some #metoo ALREADY
the other cacs are foul as f*ck
first STUPID move to co sign someone who was ALREADY outed as a bully, f
epic fail to NOT defend a young girl fellow cast mate you KNOW is telling the truth
WHY do all that IN FRONT of a reporter..
she starts CRYING... and you DO NOT IMMEDIATELY STOP??
So no this pretty much giving even MORE proof this #metoo shit aint only legit but ESPECIALLY these white men do not give a single f*ck.
If they would do this IN FRONT of a reporter? To a FELLOW cast mate? who was basically a CHILD actor?
Damn.
All these white men actors better just open up a special fund and start preemptively paying off ALL these actresses NOW.
(no pun intended)
Not surprised one bit
White guys gonna white guy
White guys gonna white guy
that's the thing
OK yeah I find it hard to believe ALL these women were "drugged" by Cosby and I blame Weinstein but ALL those actors and agents and mangers that protected him?
they JUST as f*cked up to me,
but THIS one shows how DEEP ROOTED this is and we as men gotta admit this aint no bullsh*t
these white dudes were messing with a crying girl during an INTERVIEW, she worked with them for YEARS and even after the dude was OUTED as a asshole? The STILL caped for him in FRONT of the crying girl!
If THAT don't expose this #meoo as real sh*t and insidious?
I don't know what else you need.
I do not trust ANYONE anymore just off GP.
But like I said months ago...
they gonna be more WOMEN and homosexuals who about to get this work next.
And I think an UNEXPECTED positive?
those who LIE and make false accusations?
gonna start to see jail time soon.
dude accused of sexually harrassing and groping trannies.
did I miss something is there actual footage of the interview where they dissed her....
yup
and they CAPING for him over the girl who they call lil sis crying in the same damn room
no I think there is only the transcript and some audio and the reporters account and of course HER telling and the subsequent apologies.
No its not the young girl its the woman (Jessica Walter) who plays his wife on the show that he yelled at that was crying in the interview that Jason Bateman apologized to.
sorry...
you correct, she was the one crying
apparently the young has spoken out too.
thanks for the correction.
No doubt.
I think it was fucked up for that reporter to put them in that situation by bringing that shit up when dude is in the room while they're trying to promote their show.
Its a lose-lose scenario for the other actors. They either defend him and risk the fans backlash or they shit on a friend/co-worker to appease everyone else.
They shouldn't be put in that position because of allegations made against him.
I know almost nothing about the accusations against Tambor from his other show but Bateman and the other males on Arrested Development were defending Tambor for going off on Jessica Walter.
David Cross Says He Will ‘Unequivocally Apologize’ to Jessica Walter for Times Interview
In a new interview with Gothamist, David Cross addressed comments made in a piece published yesterday by the New YorkTimes in which Jessica Walter was brought to tears while discussing an instance of her being berated on the set of Arrested Development by Jeffrey Tambor. Cross apparently logged off of Twitter shortly after the Times interview went live, and had not yet seen the apologies issued by his co-stars Jason Bateman and Tony Hale who, along with Will Arnett, essentially gaslighted Walter by minimizing the effect Tambor’s behavior had on her during the conflict, even as she emphasized that she had never been treated so poorly by someone in her 60-year career.
For coming to Tambor’s defense (he told the Times that the actor has “learned from the experience and he’s listening and learning and growing,” adding “That’s important to remember”) instead of empathizing with the actively weeping Walter, Cross told Gothamist, “I will unequivocally apologize to Jessica. I’m sorry that we behaved the way we behaved. Whatever the criticisms are, I will own up. I don’t even know what they are, as I said, I saw the initial thing but I jumped off [of Twitter] at the behest of various people.” He also said that, “I think we kind of got what we deserved,” because they never addressed Tambor’s blow-up as a group prior to this press tour.
Cross said too that he has been having conversations about the backlash with his wife, Amber Tamblyn, as well as his co-star, Alia Shawkat, who was the only Arrested cast member to call Tambor’s behavior toward Walter unacceptable without qualification in the Times conversation. “I agreed with Alia that there was no excuse. There’s never an excuse ever for yelling at somebody and humiliating them in front of other people,” said Cross, who explained that he once saw Walter treat another performer on set poorly, but that her outburst did not approach the severity of Tambor’s. “There was no excuse when Jessica did it. To Jessica’s credit, she eventually apologized to the actress, and felt bad about it. Jeffrey did as well, but it was a bigger deal, there were more people in the room and it was an extremely uncomfortable moment.”
In the Times conversation, Bateman pressed the point that the unique demands of acting can result in strange behavior when an actor is working through their “process,” but Cross stressed multiple times to Gothamistthat Tambor’s treatment of Walter was “egregious and there was a little bit of cruelty to it, which I have a real issue with,” and added, “I’m not going to defend what Jeffrey did at all, because I would never do that. I’ve never seen anybody do that to that level and that’s just not right. There’s just no excuse for behaving like that.”
In a new interview with Gothamist, David Cross addressed comments made in a piece published yesterday by the New YorkTimes in which Jessica Walter was brought to tears while discussing an instance of her being berated on the set of Arrested Development by Jeffrey Tambor. Cross apparently logged off of Twitter shortly after the Times interview went live, and had not yet seen the apologies issued by his co-stars Jason Bateman and Tony Hale who, along with Will Arnett, essentially gaslighted Walter by minimizing the effect Tambor’s behavior had on her during the conflict, even as she emphasized that she had never been treated so poorly by someone in her 60-year career.
For coming to Tambor’s defense (he told the Times that the actor has “learned from the experience and he’s listening and learning and growing,” adding “That’s important to remember”) instead of empathizing with the actively weeping Walter, Cross told Gothamist, “I will unequivocally apologize to Jessica. I’m sorry that we behaved the way we behaved. Whatever the criticisms are, I will own up. I don’t even know what they are, as I said, I saw the initial thing but I jumped off [of Twitter] at the behest of various people.” He also said that, “I think we kind of got what we deserved,” because they never addressed Tambor’s blow-up as a group prior to this press tour.
Cross said too that he has been having conversations about the backlash with his wife, Amber Tamblyn, as well as his co-star, Alia Shawkat, who was the only Arrested cast member to call Tambor’s behavior toward Walter unacceptable without qualification in the Times conversation. “I agreed with Alia that there was no excuse. There’s never an excuse ever for yelling at somebody and humiliating them in front of other people,” said Cross, who explained that he once saw Walter treat another performer on set poorly, but that her outburst did not approach the severity of Tambor’s. “There was no excuse when Jessica did it. To Jessica’s credit, she eventually apologized to the actress, and felt bad about it. Jeffrey did as well, but it was a bigger deal, there were more people in the room and it was an extremely uncomfortable moment.”
In the Times conversation, Bateman pressed the point that the unique demands of acting can result in strange behavior when an actor is working through their “process,” but Cross stressed multiple times to Gothamistthat Tambor’s treatment of Walter was “egregious and there was a little bit of cruelty to it, which I have a real issue with,” and added, “I’m not going to defend what Jeffrey did at all, because I would never do that. I’ve never seen anybody do that to that level and that’s just not right. There’s just no excuse for behaving like that.”
David Cross Discusses Jeffrey Tambor's 'Humiliating' Outburst On Arrested Development Set
BY BEN YAKAS IN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ON MAY 24, 2018 4:49 PM
Saeed Adyani/Netflix
Gothamist had an interview scheduled with David Cross to talk about the upcoming fifth season of Arrested Development well before yesterday's extremely uncomfortable NY Times interviewwith the cast dropped. In that piece— which included stars Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Jeffrey Tambor, Tony Hale, Jessica Walter, Alia Shawkat and Cross—there was a discussion about the inappropriate on-set behavior by Tambor (who was previously fired from Transparent for similar alleged behavior). Tambor's male castmates, especially Bateman, defended him to the Times while Walter teared up recounting the verbal harassment she endured.
"In like almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set," she said. "And it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now. I just let it go right here, for The New York Times." When Bateman tried to argue that dealing with "difficult" personalities was a normal part of the business, Shawkat interjected, "But that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable."
The interview garnered an immediate backlash online, with some very trenchant criticism from the likes of Vulture's Matt Zoller Seitz and NPR's Linda Holmes, who wrote: "It's not the worst story. Not by a mile. It may not even be Tambor's worst story. But seeing a woman so brilliant withstand repeated efforts, by people who say they love her, to recast her experiences as normal when she knew they were not? It was a lot to take. It got under my skin."
Bateman and Hale have both since apologized on Twitter (see below). Unsurprisingly, our conversation with Cross became a post-mortem about the Times interview and his own complicity in Tambor's behavior on set.
[For further context: Cross is married to actress Amber Tamblyn, who is one of the founding members of Time's Up, and who sent out several tweets since the NY Times interview went up. Also, the actor refers here to the fact he has recently apologized over accusations made by actor/comedian Charlyne Yi, who says he made racist comments toward her when they met a decade ago.]
o I imagine that yesterday was a bit of a shitshow in the Arrested Development world because of the New York Times interview. It was. My wife is very good about getting me off of Twitter when I need to be. So I saw all the stuff happening last night, and literally deleted the app from my home screen. So I don't know exactly what's going on. I do know the crux is that a lot of people are upset. And you know, I was in the room and I know that there's an audiotape, and I'm assuming that it would make me cringe if I heard it.
It's not a good situation. And there's a lot of people who I care about—that means everybody in that room—who are upset. It's a difficult thing to have play out in a public forum, and I'm hesitant to comment on it because I know that there's nothing I can say or do that will make it better. In fact it would probably make it worse.
So my instinct is to address the situation, any situation, whatever happens. But what I've learned in the last couple of years is it won't help. Whatever I could say, anything I could elucidate that goes beyond what was the actual interview that took place, isn't going to help. And I don't think anybody's really interested in hearing anything from me unless it's an absolute unqualified apology. It's an extremely complicated situation with layers and layers and layers of...and now I'm doing exactly what I said that I shouldn't do. I'm trying to be careful and diplomatic and not hurt anyone's feelings.
I hear that. Did you know that Jason apologized this morning? I did not know that. I gotta get back on Twitter.
He sent out a series of tweets, and apologized for his behavior during the interview.Good.
Basically, one of the things that a lot of people are upset about is that there was this gaslighting of Jessica happening in front of Jessica, and that nobody, besides Alia, defended her. Instead, it seemed as though the guys in the room all came to Jeffrey's defense, rather than hers. I totally get that. I don't know how it comes out in print, and I know that there's the audio going around, so that is what it is. There's no qualifying that. I'll say this: two people that I deeply respect, and I listen to and I love and appreciate, expressed to me after that interview their discomfort with it. One of those was Alia and the other was my wife. I listened to them, and I can't and wouldn't ever dismiss their take on something. And they are also two people who are aware of the bigger picture. So, it means even more than it normally would, which is a lot.
So I will unequivocally apologize to Jessica. I'm sorry that we behaved the way we behaved. Whatever the criticisms are, I will own up. I don't even know what they are, as I said, I saw the initial thing but I jumped off at the behest of various people. And also I had to put my daughter to bed, so it was time to, you know, focus on what's really important in the moment.
I don't know outside of what I can speculate, just being on Twitter now for over a year and a half, and [knowing] what the situation is, I assume it's a lot like—well it's like what you said, you encapsulated it. I agreed with Alia that there was no excuse. There's never an excuse ever for yelling at somebody and humiliating them in front of other people. And there was no excuse when Jessica did it. To Jessica's credit, she eventually apologized to the actress, and felt bad about it. Jeffrey did as well, but it was a bigger deal, there were more people in the room and it was an extremely uncomfortable moment.
Did this occur during the filming of the fifth season? This was just towards the end. I don't know exactly, but I would say in the last month of shooting, give or take.
So are you saying there were multiple outbursts while filming? No, no, no. With Jeffrey, it was once that I'm aware of, that I was on set for.
But you're saying there was a [separate] outburst involving Jessica as well? Yeah—I'm trying to think, I'm sure other people have kind of gotten pissy. But to Jessica's credit, she felt bad, she apologized. Portia [di Rossi] wasn't around, so there was a stand-in for her for months and months and months, and there was this incident, but it didn't have the same kind of feeling that Jeffrey's did. Jeffrey's took a lot of the focus. And again, I don't condone that behavior when anybody does it. And that's with crewmembers as well. There's just no excuse.
And again, I should familiarize myself with the interview. I can't imagine that we came off very good because, I mean, it was an instant and very vocal [reaction]. People were just like, "Fuck you guys, the men are terrible." So I would imagine that it's not good. Again, I'm going to have a conversation with and a dialogue with and defer to people like Alia and my wife, who are familiar with the entirety of the 15 years of all of our behaviors. I will defer to them, and if they have a problem with it, then it's time for me to shut up, and realize there is a problem.
When you were on set when this happened, did you guys talk about it in real time? Did the cast or crew talk to Jeffrey and Jessica separately, before what happened in the NY Times interview? Yes. I can't say cast and crew. You mean when the actual incidents occurred?
Yeah, did you all discuss these things before the interview? Yes and no. Not as a group, and we should have done that. And I fault myself, I should have said more and done more than I did on multiple occasions. And I am to blame for that. And that's for anybody, anybody who felt...bullied is too strong of a word...but if anybody felt not comfortable, or were made to feel a certain way you shouldn't feel on a set. Whether that's cast, crew, supporting actors.
I didn't speak up as much as I should have, and I regret it. I started to say this to the Times, and I put the brakes on it, but this was not a...dammit, this sucks...there's a cumulative effect to our behavior.
It's a very complicated situation. There's nothing I can say. And again, I'm sure I've made things worse. I'm sure just by saying what I've said that I have made things worse in many people's minds. But for what it's worth, a lot of those people say, "You know what, I got that vibe, they're dead to me, fuck them, I kinda knew it, they're assholes." And they're gone, and that's too bad.
I have a few more questions about this I'd like to ask you. One of the things that I think Jason, more so than you, brought up in the interview is this idea of frustrations boiling over and people shouting on set, and how that can be normal at times. I was wondering whether you have seen this, had experiences like that before? No, I disagree with that. Well, there's yelling and then there's what Jeffrey did. Those are two different things.
It's one thing to pop off a little bit, to let frustrations boil over, that happens in any workplace. If it had just been that, then it would have been not cool, but par for the course for where we were and what was happening. I think what Jeffrey did was egregious and there was a little bit of cruelty to it, which I have a real issue with. There's nothing wrong with speaking up and saying, "Hey this isn't working. You're the reason and we need to figure this out because we've got a lot of stuff to shoot and we've only got two hours left unless we're going to go over again." And it's also best to pull that person side and discuss it offstage, and that's the appropriate way to do it.
I'm not going to defend what Jeffrey did at all, because I would never do that. I've never seen anybody do that to that level and that's just not right. There's just no excuse for behaving like that. But as far as the idea that people have problems and raise their voice, that happens everywhere. There's not a workplace where that hasn't happened, that I've been a part of. But you have to make a distinction between being upset, popping off at somebody, lashing out, and kind of shitty behavior. And I don't know whether or not—this is purely speculative—I don't know whether or not Jeffrey would have done that to the male members of the cast. He didn't have that relationship that he has with Jessica that he has with the male members of the cast, so that's perhaps part of the difference.
But you just can't defend it. There's no reason for that that specific thing. I've seen people [on set] be shitty to other people—belittling, unkind, condescending and dismissive. I'm not talking about every single person, Michael Cera never did it, Alia didn't. But I've seen it.
Everyone got frustrated at some point, but there was a marked difference between what [Jeffrey] said and did versus the way the rest handled it? Absolutely, 100 percent, 100 percent. It was shocking, uncomfortable. Nobody felt good about it. Nobody was gleeful about it. And it's really unfortunate that it did happen. Outside of the extreme nature of the yelling and dressing down in front of the rest of the cast and crew, I think everyone else as well understood the frustration.
In my life, I've made mistakes where I have said the wrong thing to people, I have disrespected someone I cared about and I've apologized. I've found that unpacking what happened, it has led me to generally get to a better mindset, more awareness. The thing I wanted to ask you further: why do you think the first inclination among the male castmembers was to defend Jeffrey, as opposed to coming to Jessica's defense? That's a really good question, something I think that I should explore, that's worth exploring.
We're all familiar with the situation, what the situation has been for 15 years. Again, I repeat, I think that kind of behavior is inexcusable. It was egregious and it almost felt a little cruel. Nobody was happy, it wasn't like, "Good, she got what was coming," none of that. It was the absolute wrong way to handle that situation in every respect.
But as I said, we have access to more information than you do and those two things go hand in hand. There's that, plus the fact I think it's indefensible, and I should have said that. I think I pointed out, referring to The Hollywood Reporter [article in which Tambor admitted to being "difficult" on set and first revealed he had blown-up at Walter], that Jeffrey had said he learned from it, and he was trying to learn from it. And I wanted that pointed out. And I know that makes me look bad, and that's really something that I need to hear why, because I don't know, and I'm not like folding my arms and stamping my feet and turning away, I truly don't know why and I need to be educated—and please, people do it without yelling at me. But tell me why that was the wrong thing and I will listen and learn from it.
And again, two people I care deeply about, Alia and my wife, are people that I've been talking to, and we'll figure this out. I don't think that really satisfies your question. There's probably something in there that'll help to explain it even on a tiny level. And I know I'm not saying anything negative about you, I don't know who you are, what you'll do with this, how it'll eventually come out, but I'm positive that just by talking to you I've made it worse.
Being in a room with a NY Times reporter is perhaps the last place on the planet you should start going into psychotherapy with your cast.
Generally speaking, that's probably a good ethos. [Laughs] But it wasn't like there were any gotcha questions or any of that sneaky shit. The guy was just asking questions and it really was coming out. And we were talking about it. There was a lot, a lot going on. 15 years. 15 years of all of us working together. It's ignorant to just reduce it to the hour we spent in that room. And I go back to something I said earlier, which is I blame myself for not addressing the situation in a better way, or even addressing it at all.
I think, I mean this, I think we kind of got what we deserved because of that. I think for all of us to start this psychotherapy session... I don't know if he put in the interview that "there's pauses, there's ten seconds of reflection." Some things start to get addressed, and then the brakes are pulled on them, and that should have been handled a long, long time ago. I take responsibility on my part for that.
Have you had a chance to speak with Jessica since the interview? After the interview yeah, we all hung out for awhile after that.
Was there a briefing amongst you about what happened, since it was pretty heavy emotionally? It was. Whenever there's an occasion that somebody cries, it doesn't matter how many times they've cried before, that's a bad thing. That is never good. And again, I was there and it was not cool. It was a tough thing to be a part of, a tough thing to have untold. And it didn't last for 30 seconds, it was a couple minutes.
And again Jeffrey apologized, but that was hours later. He made a big mea culpa to the cast and the crew, but the damage was done. Again, that didn't come out of nowhere, he's not American Psycho or whatever. I think Jason pointed this out, but we didn't know about the Transparent stuff, I hadn't seen that behavior ever from him in 15 years. I have now. And that goes into the pile of what I know about Jeffrey. But up until that point I'd never seen that.
It was not good, not right. And then obviously Jessica's been holding that in. And I think she probably experienced what a lot of people do...she had a different experience in every way with that situation. I think it's...nope, I better shut up.
What did he say exactly? I don't remember, but as I said, this wasn't like, "Hey you're stepping on my lines." This was 15 years of [buildup], this was addressing things that should have been addressed a long time ago. I've directed sets and run sets before, and I give a little speech beforehand about that very kind of thing, like: "I want to have fun, I don't want any of this bullshit, there's no rank here."
You just don't treat people like that, I don't care what's going on. If you hear yourself doing that, just stop. Have the discussion, but don't do it in front of everybody in a humiliating way. It was humiliating.
Do you regret at all the fact that you spoke out on Jeffrey's behalf after the Transparentstuff initially came out? Do you regret saying anything at that point? I don't. I had more information than a lot of people. I spoke to Jill Solloway, I spoke to Jeffrey. I had and continue to have more information than you or anybody on twitter does. I don't regret the sentiment, I regret what I was trying to imply was that I support him, he's a friend, I don't condone the behavior, I don't know those women, I know other people who worked on the show, but what I meant was I support my friend.
In other words, the longer way to explain it is, just because somebody I know does something shitty, and behavior I disagree with, it doesn't mean I'm going to drop him as friend. I support my friends, I continue to support my friends. Jeffrey's not the only guy I know accused of shitty, bad hurtful behavior. I don't condone it, but it's not like, "Hey I'm never going to talk to you again and I'm only gonna talk shit about you." If I had a family member who did something bad, I'd go visit them in prison. Does that make sense?
I'm not the kind of person who just...I don't have that Twitter mentality, where, "Hey you did this thing, you're awful, you're a piece of shit."
[At this point, David starts yelling at someone.] You have no idea what I'm talking about right now! Oh my God!
Gaby Hoffmann just drove by. That's hilarious. Gaby just drove by and said, "David Cross, you're getting into trouble everywhere you go." Actually, Gaby is somebody I should talk to. I should reach out and get her take on all this as well.
[Cross starts talking to Gaby Hoffmann again, asking her if she has time to talk about everything.]
Let me jump off with you sir, is that cool?
Let me ask one last question: do you think this will affect the way the show is received now? Oh yes, without a doubt. At least initially.
Do you feel comfortable working with him if there is an Arrested Development season six? If we have deeper discussions, absolutely, yes I do.
Thanks for talking to me, and I hope everything goes well with Gaby. Oh I'm sure it will. She is a light in my life. Gaby, can you just tell this man you're smiling and laughing.
Gaby Hoffmann: I'm smiling and laughing.
Hi Gaby. Alright, he says "hi, Gaby." I can't wait to see how my career is destroyed. I'm looking forward to it.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. The new season of Arrested Development premieres Tuesday, May 29th.
BY BEN YAKAS IN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ON MAY 24, 2018 4:49 PM
Saeed Adyani/Netflix
Gothamist had an interview scheduled with David Cross to talk about the upcoming fifth season of Arrested Development well before yesterday's extremely uncomfortable NY Times interviewwith the cast dropped. In that piece— which included stars Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Jeffrey Tambor, Tony Hale, Jessica Walter, Alia Shawkat and Cross—there was a discussion about the inappropriate on-set behavior by Tambor (who was previously fired from Transparent for similar alleged behavior). Tambor's male castmates, especially Bateman, defended him to the Times while Walter teared up recounting the verbal harassment she endured.
"In like almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set," she said. "And it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now. I just let it go right here, for The New York Times." When Bateman tried to argue that dealing with "difficult" personalities was a normal part of the business, Shawkat interjected, "But that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable."
The interview garnered an immediate backlash online, with some very trenchant criticism from the likes of Vulture's Matt Zoller Seitz and NPR's Linda Holmes, who wrote: "It's not the worst story. Not by a mile. It may not even be Tambor's worst story. But seeing a woman so brilliant withstand repeated efforts, by people who say they love her, to recast her experiences as normal when she knew they were not? It was a lot to take. It got under my skin."
Bateman and Hale have both since apologized on Twitter (see below). Unsurprisingly, our conversation with Cross became a post-mortem about the Times interview and his own complicity in Tambor's behavior on set.
[For further context: Cross is married to actress Amber Tamblyn, who is one of the founding members of Time's Up, and who sent out several tweets since the NY Times interview went up. Also, the actor refers here to the fact he has recently apologized over accusations made by actor/comedian Charlyne Yi, who says he made racist comments toward her when they met a decade ago.]
o I imagine that yesterday was a bit of a shitshow in the Arrested Development world because of the New York Times interview. It was. My wife is very good about getting me off of Twitter when I need to be. So I saw all the stuff happening last night, and literally deleted the app from my home screen. So I don't know exactly what's going on. I do know the crux is that a lot of people are upset. And you know, I was in the room and I know that there's an audiotape, and I'm assuming that it would make me cringe if I heard it.
It's not a good situation. And there's a lot of people who I care about—that means everybody in that room—who are upset. It's a difficult thing to have play out in a public forum, and I'm hesitant to comment on it because I know that there's nothing I can say or do that will make it better. In fact it would probably make it worse.
So my instinct is to address the situation, any situation, whatever happens. But what I've learned in the last couple of years is it won't help. Whatever I could say, anything I could elucidate that goes beyond what was the actual interview that took place, isn't going to help. And I don't think anybody's really interested in hearing anything from me unless it's an absolute unqualified apology. It's an extremely complicated situation with layers and layers and layers of...and now I'm doing exactly what I said that I shouldn't do. I'm trying to be careful and diplomatic and not hurt anyone's feelings.
I hear that. Did you know that Jason apologized this morning? I did not know that. I gotta get back on Twitter.
He sent out a series of tweets, and apologized for his behavior during the interview.Good.
Basically, one of the things that a lot of people are upset about is that there was this gaslighting of Jessica happening in front of Jessica, and that nobody, besides Alia, defended her. Instead, it seemed as though the guys in the room all came to Jeffrey's defense, rather than hers. I totally get that. I don't know how it comes out in print, and I know that there's the audio going around, so that is what it is. There's no qualifying that. I'll say this: two people that I deeply respect, and I listen to and I love and appreciate, expressed to me after that interview their discomfort with it. One of those was Alia and the other was my wife. I listened to them, and I can't and wouldn't ever dismiss their take on something. And they are also two people who are aware of the bigger picture. So, it means even more than it normally would, which is a lot.
So I will unequivocally apologize to Jessica. I'm sorry that we behaved the way we behaved. Whatever the criticisms are, I will own up. I don't even know what they are, as I said, I saw the initial thing but I jumped off at the behest of various people. And also I had to put my daughter to bed, so it was time to, you know, focus on what's really important in the moment.
I don't know outside of what I can speculate, just being on Twitter now for over a year and a half, and [knowing] what the situation is, I assume it's a lot like—well it's like what you said, you encapsulated it. I agreed with Alia that there was no excuse. There's never an excuse ever for yelling at somebody and humiliating them in front of other people. And there was no excuse when Jessica did it. To Jessica's credit, she eventually apologized to the actress, and felt bad about it. Jeffrey did as well, but it was a bigger deal, there were more people in the room and it was an extremely uncomfortable moment.
Did this occur during the filming of the fifth season? This was just towards the end. I don't know exactly, but I would say in the last month of shooting, give or take.
So are you saying there were multiple outbursts while filming? No, no, no. With Jeffrey, it was once that I'm aware of, that I was on set for.
But you're saying there was a [separate] outburst involving Jessica as well? Yeah—I'm trying to think, I'm sure other people have kind of gotten pissy. But to Jessica's credit, she felt bad, she apologized. Portia [di Rossi] wasn't around, so there was a stand-in for her for months and months and months, and there was this incident, but it didn't have the same kind of feeling that Jeffrey's did. Jeffrey's took a lot of the focus. And again, I don't condone that behavior when anybody does it. And that's with crewmembers as well. There's just no excuse.
And again, I should familiarize myself with the interview. I can't imagine that we came off very good because, I mean, it was an instant and very vocal [reaction]. People were just like, "Fuck you guys, the men are terrible." So I would imagine that it's not good. Again, I'm going to have a conversation with and a dialogue with and defer to people like Alia and my wife, who are familiar with the entirety of the 15 years of all of our behaviors. I will defer to them, and if they have a problem with it, then it's time for me to shut up, and realize there is a problem.
When you were on set when this happened, did you guys talk about it in real time? Did the cast or crew talk to Jeffrey and Jessica separately, before what happened in the NY Times interview? Yes. I can't say cast and crew. You mean when the actual incidents occurred?
Yeah, did you all discuss these things before the interview? Yes and no. Not as a group, and we should have done that. And I fault myself, I should have said more and done more than I did on multiple occasions. And I am to blame for that. And that's for anybody, anybody who felt...bullied is too strong of a word...but if anybody felt not comfortable, or were made to feel a certain way you shouldn't feel on a set. Whether that's cast, crew, supporting actors.
I didn't speak up as much as I should have, and I regret it. I started to say this to the Times, and I put the brakes on it, but this was not a...dammit, this sucks...there's a cumulative effect to our behavior.
It's a very complicated situation. There's nothing I can say. And again, I'm sure I've made things worse. I'm sure just by saying what I've said that I have made things worse in many people's minds. But for what it's worth, a lot of those people say, "You know what, I got that vibe, they're dead to me, fuck them, I kinda knew it, they're assholes." And they're gone, and that's too bad.
I have a few more questions about this I'd like to ask you. One of the things that I think Jason, more so than you, brought up in the interview is this idea of frustrations boiling over and people shouting on set, and how that can be normal at times. I was wondering whether you have seen this, had experiences like that before? No, I disagree with that. Well, there's yelling and then there's what Jeffrey did. Those are two different things.
It's one thing to pop off a little bit, to let frustrations boil over, that happens in any workplace. If it had just been that, then it would have been not cool, but par for the course for where we were and what was happening. I think what Jeffrey did was egregious and there was a little bit of cruelty to it, which I have a real issue with. There's nothing wrong with speaking up and saying, "Hey this isn't working. You're the reason and we need to figure this out because we've got a lot of stuff to shoot and we've only got two hours left unless we're going to go over again." And it's also best to pull that person side and discuss it offstage, and that's the appropriate way to do it.
I'm not going to defend what Jeffrey did at all, because I would never do that. I've never seen anybody do that to that level and that's just not right. There's just no excuse for behaving like that. But as far as the idea that people have problems and raise their voice, that happens everywhere. There's not a workplace where that hasn't happened, that I've been a part of. But you have to make a distinction between being upset, popping off at somebody, lashing out, and kind of shitty behavior. And I don't know whether or not—this is purely speculative—I don't know whether or not Jeffrey would have done that to the male members of the cast. He didn't have that relationship that he has with Jessica that he has with the male members of the cast, so that's perhaps part of the difference.
But you just can't defend it. There's no reason for that that specific thing. I've seen people [on set] be shitty to other people—belittling, unkind, condescending and dismissive. I'm not talking about every single person, Michael Cera never did it, Alia didn't. But I've seen it.
Everyone got frustrated at some point, but there was a marked difference between what [Jeffrey] said and did versus the way the rest handled it? Absolutely, 100 percent, 100 percent. It was shocking, uncomfortable. Nobody felt good about it. Nobody was gleeful about it. And it's really unfortunate that it did happen. Outside of the extreme nature of the yelling and dressing down in front of the rest of the cast and crew, I think everyone else as well understood the frustration.
In my life, I've made mistakes where I have said the wrong thing to people, I have disrespected someone I cared about and I've apologized. I've found that unpacking what happened, it has led me to generally get to a better mindset, more awareness. The thing I wanted to ask you further: why do you think the first inclination among the male castmembers was to defend Jeffrey, as opposed to coming to Jessica's defense? That's a really good question, something I think that I should explore, that's worth exploring.
We're all familiar with the situation, what the situation has been for 15 years. Again, I repeat, I think that kind of behavior is inexcusable. It was egregious and it almost felt a little cruel. Nobody was happy, it wasn't like, "Good, she got what was coming," none of that. It was the absolute wrong way to handle that situation in every respect.
But as I said, we have access to more information than you do and those two things go hand in hand. There's that, plus the fact I think it's indefensible, and I should have said that. I think I pointed out, referring to The Hollywood Reporter [article in which Tambor admitted to being "difficult" on set and first revealed he had blown-up at Walter], that Jeffrey had said he learned from it, and he was trying to learn from it. And I wanted that pointed out. And I know that makes me look bad, and that's really something that I need to hear why, because I don't know, and I'm not like folding my arms and stamping my feet and turning away, I truly don't know why and I need to be educated—and please, people do it without yelling at me. But tell me why that was the wrong thing and I will listen and learn from it.
And again, two people I care deeply about, Alia and my wife, are people that I've been talking to, and we'll figure this out. I don't think that really satisfies your question. There's probably something in there that'll help to explain it even on a tiny level. And I know I'm not saying anything negative about you, I don't know who you are, what you'll do with this, how it'll eventually come out, but I'm positive that just by talking to you I've made it worse.
Being in a room with a NY Times reporter is perhaps the last place on the planet you should start going into psychotherapy with your cast.
Generally speaking, that's probably a good ethos. [Laughs] But it wasn't like there were any gotcha questions or any of that sneaky shit. The guy was just asking questions and it really was coming out. And we were talking about it. There was a lot, a lot going on. 15 years. 15 years of all of us working together. It's ignorant to just reduce it to the hour we spent in that room. And I go back to something I said earlier, which is I blame myself for not addressing the situation in a better way, or even addressing it at all.
I think, I mean this, I think we kind of got what we deserved because of that. I think for all of us to start this psychotherapy session... I don't know if he put in the interview that "there's pauses, there's ten seconds of reflection." Some things start to get addressed, and then the brakes are pulled on them, and that should have been handled a long, long time ago. I take responsibility on my part for that.
Have you had a chance to speak with Jessica since the interview? After the interview yeah, we all hung out for awhile after that.
Was there a briefing amongst you about what happened, since it was pretty heavy emotionally? It was. Whenever there's an occasion that somebody cries, it doesn't matter how many times they've cried before, that's a bad thing. That is never good. And again, I was there and it was not cool. It was a tough thing to be a part of, a tough thing to have untold. And it didn't last for 30 seconds, it was a couple minutes.
And again Jeffrey apologized, but that was hours later. He made a big mea culpa to the cast and the crew, but the damage was done. Again, that didn't come out of nowhere, he's not American Psycho or whatever. I think Jason pointed this out, but we didn't know about the Transparent stuff, I hadn't seen that behavior ever from him in 15 years. I have now. And that goes into the pile of what I know about Jeffrey. But up until that point I'd never seen that.
It was not good, not right. And then obviously Jessica's been holding that in. And I think she probably experienced what a lot of people do...she had a different experience in every way with that situation. I think it's...nope, I better shut up.
What did he say exactly? I don't remember, but as I said, this wasn't like, "Hey you're stepping on my lines." This was 15 years of [buildup], this was addressing things that should have been addressed a long time ago. I've directed sets and run sets before, and I give a little speech beforehand about that very kind of thing, like: "I want to have fun, I don't want any of this bullshit, there's no rank here."
You just don't treat people like that, I don't care what's going on. If you hear yourself doing that, just stop. Have the discussion, but don't do it in front of everybody in a humiliating way. It was humiliating.
Do you regret at all the fact that you spoke out on Jeffrey's behalf after the Transparentstuff initially came out? Do you regret saying anything at that point? I don't. I had more information than a lot of people. I spoke to Jill Solloway, I spoke to Jeffrey. I had and continue to have more information than you or anybody on twitter does. I don't regret the sentiment, I regret what I was trying to imply was that I support him, he's a friend, I don't condone the behavior, I don't know those women, I know other people who worked on the show, but what I meant was I support my friend.
In other words, the longer way to explain it is, just because somebody I know does something shitty, and behavior I disagree with, it doesn't mean I'm going to drop him as friend. I support my friends, I continue to support my friends. Jeffrey's not the only guy I know accused of shitty, bad hurtful behavior. I don't condone it, but it's not like, "Hey I'm never going to talk to you again and I'm only gonna talk shit about you." If I had a family member who did something bad, I'd go visit them in prison. Does that make sense?
I'm not the kind of person who just...I don't have that Twitter mentality, where, "Hey you did this thing, you're awful, you're a piece of shit."
[At this point, David starts yelling at someone.] You have no idea what I'm talking about right now! Oh my God!
Gaby Hoffmann just drove by. That's hilarious. Gaby just drove by and said, "David Cross, you're getting into trouble everywhere you go." Actually, Gaby is somebody I should talk to. I should reach out and get her take on all this as well.
[Cross starts talking to Gaby Hoffmann again, asking her if she has time to talk about everything.]
Let me jump off with you sir, is that cool?
Let me ask one last question: do you think this will affect the way the show is received now? Oh yes, without a doubt. At least initially.
Do you feel comfortable working with him if there is an Arrested Development season six? If we have deeper discussions, absolutely, yes I do.
Thanks for talking to me, and I hope everything goes well with Gaby. Oh I'm sure it will. She is a light in my life. Gaby, can you just tell this man you're smiling and laughing.
Gaby Hoffmann: I'm smiling and laughing.
Hi Gaby. Alright, he says "hi, Gaby." I can't wait to see how my career is destroyed. I'm looking forward to it.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. The new season of Arrested Development premieres Tuesday, May 29th.
It’s a silly, trivial thing but its kinda simple.
Every white guy wants to be or pretend to be a smart alpha. Even when they’re not. They control the room by controlling the other men around them and teaching them to back down when they roar. It becomes the norm.
I went through this shit at work a few years ago with a coworker. He was a wannabe tough guy and a cagey veteran. People knew how he threw temper tantrums and screamed at folks - women included. This dude talked foul to me on more than one occasion and I literally had to stop myself from either hitting him or taking him out after work. People that know me just shook their heads at him... never knowing how close he was to getting fucked up. I could do it on some street shit or I could legally kill his career with paperwork. Either or.
It got that real. But I make way too much money with a family to feed to risk it on him. That’s the honest truth. He’s gone now, promoted out the damn office and with Homeland Security now. Good fucking riddance.
This is no different. Till this day, people explain away his episodes and make light of it, and the people he bullied and threatened are made to look like they crying bitch or overreacted. It’s crazy but it happens.
0NE
Every white guy wants to be or pretend to be a smart alpha. Even when they’re not. They control the room by controlling the other men around them and teaching them to back down when they roar. It becomes the norm.
I went through this shit at work a few years ago with a coworker. He was a wannabe tough guy and a cagey veteran. People knew how he threw temper tantrums and screamed at folks - women included. This dude talked foul to me on more than one occasion and I literally had to stop myself from either hitting him or taking him out after work. People that know me just shook their heads at him... never knowing how close he was to getting fucked up. I could do it on some street shit or I could legally kill his career with paperwork. Either or.
It got that real. But I make way too much money with a family to feed to risk it on him. That’s the honest truth. He’s gone now, promoted out the damn office and with Homeland Security now. Good fucking riddance.
This is no different. Till this day, people explain away his episodes and make light of it, and the people he bullied and threatened are made to look like they crying bitch or overreacted. It’s crazy but it happens.
0NE
Last month, what was supposed to be a standard press interview for Arrested Development’s new season soon turned into chaos over at the New York Times, when Jessica Walter revealed, through tears, that her co-star Jeffrey Tambor verbally abused her on set. While fellow co-stars Jason Bateman and Tony Hale defended Tambor’s actions as being normal for their industry, Alia Shawkat was clear in her support for Walter, saying “that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.” Now, reflecting on this interview experience with Broadly, Shawkat said she was compelled to say something because her male co-stars became excessive with their defenses. “It just kept going and I, all of a sudden, started to feel hot inside,” she explained. “Because I was like, okay, if they say all this, then I now have to say, ‘But, this is a bigger issue.’”
It didn’t help, Shawkat said, that the group didn’t discuss talking points or a strategy about Tambor beforehand, which resulted in an “unnatural” conversation that was simultaneously “public and private” for all the world to see unfold. She also wished she was more vocal in her support of Walter, but it proved difficult with the men continuously interjecting each other’s comments. “Afterwards, I was scared that I didn’t say enough and was kind of upset with myself that I wasn’t able to stand my ground more,” Shawkat explained. “But once Jessica was upset, that was my main concern. I didn’t even want to necessarily talk about the issues any more. I just wanted to make sure she was okay.” Since the interview occurred, Bateman and Hale have issued apologies about how they treated Walter:
http://www.vulture.com/2018/06/alia-shawkat-has-regrets-with-arrested-development-interview.html
David Cross also said he would “unequivocally apologize” to Walter for how he behaved in the interview.
'Arrested Development' creator was 'nervous' to cast Jason Bateman, directors say
The creator of 'Arrested Development' was 'very nervous' to cast Jason Bateman because the actor had 'a bunch of failed pilots' at the time: 'He was like, 'This could be bad luck.''
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