Avid TV and movie fans should be familiar with Jason Bateman. The 53-year-old A-list star is best known on the small screen for his roles in Arrested Development and Ozark. In film, he’s starred in Juno, Horrible Bosses, The Switch, Zootopia, and more. Jason is also a director, producer, and hosts the SmartLess podcast alongside Will Arnett and Sean Hayes. But what fans may forget about Jason is that he’s been happily married for over two decades now. His wife, Amanda Anka, is beautiful and talented in her own right. Here’s everything you need to know about Amanda and her everlasting romance with Jason.
Amanda is an actress & producer.
Like her husband, Amanda is an actor. One of her first acting jobs was as a vampire in a 1991 episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, according to her IMDb. She’s had minor roles on Beverly Hills, 90210, ER, Taxi, Bones, and The Fosters. She was also part of the voiceover cast of Adult Swim’s mockumentary TV special The Greatest Event in Television Series. Amanda is currently a co-producer on Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, alongside stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. She and Jason have been close friends with Jennifer, 52, for years.
Amanda’s father is famous.
Amanda comes from a famous family. Her father is singer Paul Anka, 80, while her mother is former model Anne de Zogheb. Paul and Anne divorced in 2001, and she died in 2017 at 74 years old. Amanda has four sisters: Amelia, Anthea, Alicia, and Alexandra. She also has a half-brother, Ethan, who is Paul’s son with his second wife, Anna Åberg.
How did Jason and Amanda meet?
Jason and Amanda were just teenagers when they met at a Los Angeles Kings hockey game in 1987. However, the pair didn’t start dating for another 10 years. “I just wasn’t into where he was at,” Amanda told GQ in 2013.
When did Jason and Amanda get married?
Jason and Amanda tied the knot in July 2001, after four years of dating. He previously told The Daily Telegraph, “I looked around at the relationships that were the longest in my life, and they were the ones I had with my friends. I thought, if I only wanted to get married once, I should probably marry a friend. I wanted to marry somebody who wasn’t someone I had to be in any particular mood to want to be around – with close friends, you can be with them no matter what mood you’re in. just waited until I found a girl that really was that in my life. Amanda is and that’s why it feels so effortless.”
But the start of Jason and Amanda’s marriage wasn’t easy. Jason had struggled with alcohol and drugs throughout the 1990s, and after his wedding, the bad behavior continued. “I was never at a place where rehab would have been appropriate,” he said in a past interview with Details. “Booze was what would make me want to stay out all night and do some blow or smoke a joint or whatever, so shutting that off was key. It’s like ketchup and French fries — I don’t want one without the other,” he added. Amanda eventually took a planned holiday trip to Mexico without her husband and demanded he seek help, which he did. He recalled to Details, “Do you want to continue being great at being in your twenties, or do you want to step up and graduate into adulthood?”
Amanda and Jason have 2 kids.
Jason and Amanda welcomed their first child, daughter Francesca, now 15, on October 28, 2006. Six years later, their daughter Maple, now 9, was born on February 10, 2012. Jason and Amanda have enjoyed so many special moments with their daughters over the years. In July 2017, Amanda and the girls supported Jason at his Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star ceremony in L.A. The actor also gave his family a sweet shoutout when he won a SAG Award in Jan. 2019 for his performance as Marty Byrde in Ozark. “Amanda, Franny and Maple, without you, none of it would be enjoyable. And it probably wouldn’t be possible,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I love you more than I even tell you I do and I’ll be home for kisses, so don’t go to bed. And Amanda, pop a mint. I’m gonna come give you yours in about five minutes.”