What You Didn't Know About Jason Bateman's Sister Justine
If you're a fan of "Ozark," then you surely know who Jason Bateman is. While the actor has had a lengthy career involving starring roles on shows like "Valerie" and "Arrested Development," as well as in movies like "Juno" and "Horrible Bosses," he's not the only famous member of his family. His wife is Amanda Anka, the daughter of singer Paul Anka, while his sister happens to be Justine Bateman. For those who need a reminder, she was one of the stars of "Family Ties" and appeared on shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "Arrested Development" (alongside her brother), per IMDb.
However, these days, Justine makes headlines for her opinions on aging. Following the release of "Fame: The Hijacking of Reality," Justine put out another book, "Face: One Square Foot of Skin." Glamour notes that "through a selection of short stories, she examines just how complicated it is for women to get older, both in and out of the spotlight." The star herself told the outlet, "I think things are going to come my way whether my face is wrinkled or my skin is loose on my neck and under my eyes, or not. Am I going to enjoy it or not enjoy it?"
We're going to go ahead and bet on the fact that Justine is going to enjoy what comes her way and stay true to herself. The same can be said when it comes to the following aspects of her life that you might not have known about.
Justine Bateman took a break to be with her kids
When Justine Bateman isn't busy with a new on-screen gig, she might be at home with her family. The star is married to Mark Fluent, and together they have two children, a son Duke and daughter Gianetta, according to IMDb. Justine had her son in June 2002 when she was 36 years old, while she had her daughter in January 2004. It was apparently around that point that she decided to spend more time with her loved ones and less time on a film set.
"She certainly wasn't as ambitious as she was before, and just really enjoyed her kids," Justine's brother and fellow star, Jason Bateman, explained in September 2007, according to People. Jason went on to say that "her husband works really very hard, and is a very successful real estate guy. And so she wanted to stay home with [the kids], and do that thing." At the time, Jason's own daughter wasn't even a year old, which is why when it came to his sister's decision to spend more time with her kids, he added, "I get it."
We're sure that Jason also understands his sister's desire to focus on a part of her career that goes beyond acting.
This actor is an accomplished producer and director
Justine Bateman may be known as an actor and the writer of two books, however, she's also someone who's paid her dues behind the camera as both a producer and director. Along with being a producer on 2008's "Easy to Assemble" and 2011's "Z," she also produced 2017's "Five Minutes," which she wrote and which marked her short film debut as a director, per IMDb. The project made the rounds at popular film festivals that year and ended up nominated for and winning various industry honors. In 2017, she also produced "PUSH," which she followed with 2021's "Violet," a feature film starring Olivia Munn and Justin Theroux that she wrote and directed.
In fact, this star is so successful as a producer that she even created her own production and consulting company called SECTION 5, which is responsible for putting her projects out into the world. And she seems incredibly proud of her work as a producer and director. Just take a look at her Instagram account and you'll see that it's filled with photos of her in action.
Although it turns out that even though that would be more than enough to keep plenty of people busy, she does even more than just acting, producing, and directing.
From an acting career to a knitting business
Did you know that Julia Roberts loves to knit? She does, indeed! The same can be said for other famous figures like Queen Elizabeth, Ringo Starr, and Ryan Gosling (yes, Ryan Gosling), according to Mental Floss. Justine Bateman is also "an avid knitter," per IMDb. However, it turns out that this star doesn't just consider knitting to be a hobby. She turned her love of the craft into a business.
After learning how to wield a pair of knitting needles at Studio City's La Knitterie Parisienne, according to the Los Angeles Times, the celeb started making her own yarn-based creations and, per WWD, received an "enthusiastic response from friends and stylists who heard about the sweaters by word of mouth." In time, stores were picking up her "signature line of edgy sweaters, knitted caps, and crochet bikinis." Beyond that, "stylists for Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani and Glamour, Maxim, Mademoiselle, InStyle, and Harper's Bazaar regularly pop[ped] in to her home studio."
"This is my second big career," the star told WWD while discussing her transition from Hollywood to fashion. She also explained her attraction to the medium, saying, "Yarn is kind of like clay to me. There is something so intimate about hand-making these." Granted, when it came to another career pivot, Justine went for something a lot techier.
The star is into computers in a serious way
If you weren't already surprised and impressed by Justine Bateman's various creative and career-related endeavors, then just wait until you find out about the fact that she has a degree in computer science and digital media management, per IMDb. Unable to attend college when she was younger due to her on-screen work, the star returned to school in 2012 to study at UCLA. Now, with a firm grasp on today's tech, Justine uses her knowledge to bring "technology and entertainment together in a way that expands into augmented reality and holographic delivery of content," according to Fast Company. She explained that she's interested in "look[ing] into the future at the way we're going to consume content."
Beyond that, Justine is an advocate for net neutrality. While talking to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel from the Federal Communications Commission, the star explained part of the issue, saying, "It's really just saying do you want your ISP, whoever you pay to get, and pay a lot of money, frankly, sometimes, to have an internet connection, do you want them to control what's being seen? Do you want them to control what you're seeing, and also do you want them to control what message you're trying to get out there?"
Clearly, Justine cares about more than just making money, which is probably why she has a relatively small (but still decent) fortune.
Justine Bateman and her brother have very different fortunes
Justine Bateman has been in the entertainment industry since she was young and surely has plenty of valuable connections in the business. However, despite that, she still has to hustle when it comes to raising the money needed to fund her projects.
For instance, when Justine talked to the Observer in March 2021 about getting the finances in line to back her film "Violet," she explained, "[Fellow producer] Larry [Larry Hummel] and I, in particular, spent a year and a half just pounding every single day to get the money for the project. Every single day. Anybody we could think of who had money, who was connected to anybody or any companies that had money, and that was really interesting."
We wonder if she hit up her brother because while she only has $5 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth — which is a decent if relatively small fortune — Jason Bateman has $30 million.