Pakistan, Aug. 23 -- Jason Bateman is having one of the biggest awards seasons of his career, earning multiple Emmy nominations this year across acting, directing and producing for his work on Netflix's Black Rabbit and HBO Max's DTF St. Louis.

Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast, recorded in front of a Chapman University journalism class, the 57-year-old reflected on his decades-long career and what pushed him toward the darker, more dramatic material found in both projects.

Bateman discussed how directing has become just as central to his creative identity as acting, he made clear that the opportunity to direct on Ozark was a condition of his agreeing to act on the show in the first place, a strategy that paid ...