Jason Bateman still remembers the acting note Katharine Hepburn gave him in the middle of a take more than 30 years ago.
The Arrested Development and Ozark star revisited the moment during a live taping of Vulture’s Good One podcast, where he talked about working opposite Hepburn in the 1994 CBS television movie This Can’t Be Love.
People reported that the exchange came during a scene where Bateman’s character had to cry. Bateman said he was pushing too hard for the emotion while acting opposite one of Hollywood’s most famous screen legends.
The advice Hepburn gave him was short enough to sting. According to Entertainment Weekly, she stopped the take and told him, “Oh, stop acting.”
Hepburn Stopped the Take With Four Words
Bateman said the scene involved only him and Hepburn, with his character expected to cry on cue. He remembered trying to force the emotion instead of letting the scene play plainly.
“It’s hard to cry on cue,” Bateman said, according to People. “I was really trying. I was really squeezing it, you know.”
Hepburn cut through the effort during the take. Bateman recalled that after she told him to “stop acting,” he answered with a joke: “You mean professionally?”
She clarified that she meant the scene. Bateman said the note was not about quitting acting, but about dropping the visible effort and saying the line without trying to manufacture the emotion.
Bateman Said the Advice Was Hard to Hear
Bateman described the note as useful but uncomfortable. He said it was “painful to hear at the beginning,” especially because it came while he was still trying to land an emotional moment opposite Hepburn.
Once he stopped trying to control the scene, the performance changed. “Once I was being real and stopped trying to manipulate the audience and whatnot and be raw, it flowed,” Bateman said, according to Entertainment Weekly.
He called it a “really great piece of advice” because it gave him a cleaner way to think about acting. The note has followed him through a career that later included Arrested Development, Game Night, Ozark, and his work as a director.
The TV Movie Came Near the End of Hepburn’s Career
In This Can’t Be Love, Bateman played Grant, the assistant and chauffeur to Hepburn’s character, Marion Bennett. Entertainment Weekly reported that Bateman described their dynamic as similar to Driving Miss Daisy, with the younger character working closely around an older star.
The CBS movie also starred Anthony Quinn and Jami Gertz. Hepburn and Quinn played aging actors who reconnect years after a brief marriage in the 1940s.
The project was one of Hepburn’s final screen roles. Entertainment Weekly noted that she retired after the theatrical film Love Affair and the television movie One Christmas, both released in 1994.
Bateman Also Talked About the Actors He Still Watches Closely
The Hepburn story came during a wider conversation about Bateman’s career, including his move between comedy, drama, acting, and directing. Vulture’s interview also covered his work on Ozark, his interest in directing, and the kinds of performances he admires.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Bateman named Daniel Day-Lewis when asked for his pick for the greatest living actor. He also praised Christian Bale and Sam Rockwell, the latter of whom he is directing in the Netflix film The Cackling of the Dodos.