Who Is Jason Bateman’s Wife, Amanda Anka? All the Details on the 'Air' Star’s Family

On his hit Netflix series Ozark, Jason Bateman plays a guy whose relationship with his wife (played by Laura Linney) is, shall we say, insanely tense (as any marriage would be when you're a financial advisor who moves to the Missouri Ozarks to make things right with a drug kingpin after your money laundering scheme went wrong). Luckily, in real life, Bateman has enjoyed a happy marriage for more than 20 years with wife Amanda Anka. The two started out as platonic pals before becoming something more. How did they make the transition from friends to forever? And why does her name sound so familiar? Keep reading for what we know about Jason Bateman's marriage to wife Amanda Anka.

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Who is Jason Bateman’s wife Amanda Anka?

Amanda Anka is roughly the same age as her hubby. as she was born in December 1968, while he was born a month later in January 1969. If her name sounds familiar, that because she's the daughter of singer/songwriter Paul Anka, famous for 1950s hits like “Diana” and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” (not to mention 2004’s Rock Swings, a full album of swing jazz covers of popular rock songs like Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”). Amanda is Paul Anka’s daughter from his first marriage to model Anne de Zoghed, with whom he was together from 1963 to 2000.

Amanda Anka is an actress and producer. One of her earliest roles was as a vampire in the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She has also appeared in a few episodes of the original Beverly Hills 90210, and had small roles in TV series ER, Diagnosis Murder, and Bones. She is currently a co-producer of the AppleTV+ hit The Morning Show, starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, and has appeared in one episode, uncredited, as a party guest. 

How did Jason Bateman meet his wife Amanda Anka?

Bateman and Anka met in 1987 at a Los Angeles Kings hockey game, when they were both still in their teens. They did not start dating until 10 years later, however, as Amanda once told GQ, “I just wasn’t into where he was at.” At the time, Bateman was appearing in the TV series Valerie (later renamed The Hogan Family) and by his own admission, more interested in partying than seeking out a serious connection for a romantic relationship. But their friendship grew during that time, forming what turned out to be a solid foundation for deeper feelings. As Bateman told Redbook in 2013, “I wanted to marry a friend. Friends last longer.”

When did Jason Bateman get married to Amanda Anka?

Bateman and Anka were married in July 2001. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Bateman said, “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.”

Related: Jason Bateman's Funniest Arrested Development Quotes 

Bateman had not, however, fully put the party life behind him by the time he and Anka tied the knot, which led to tension in the early years of their marriage. Eventually, Anka gave him an ultimatum, which led to Bateman attending Alcoholics Anonymous. He told Details magazine, “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.” The decision to quit was a matter of asking himself, “Do you want to continue being great at being in your twenties, or do you want to step up and graduate into adulthood?”

Does Jason Bateman have kids?

Bateman and Anka have two daughters: Francesca Nora (known as Franny) was born in October 2006, and Maple Sylvie was born in February 2012. Though filming Ozark has kept Bateman away from his family for months at a time, it’s clear he adores his children, as seen in this extremely funny interview with Jimmy Kimmel in 2018, in which Bateman narrates how Franny discovered the truth about the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus.

More recently, Maple, then 10, appeared with Bateman at the virtual Emmy Awards in 2020.

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