Jason Bateman's career is the kind of story Hollywood loves.

Bateman, 40, was known as a child actor; his first role was in "Little House on the Prairie." He went on to become the Directors Guild of America's youngest director, helming three episodes of "Valerie" when he was 18. Work was steady, but unremarkable (though many have remarked on "Teen Wolf Too").

In 2003 that changed, when he took on the role of Michael Bluth in "Arrested Development," a well-loved television comedy that opened doors for him and many other cast members. Since then, Bateman's film career has taken off; his latest movie, "Extract," written and directed by Mike Judge, opens today. Bateman talked about his career, his ambitions and why he doesn't mind playing the straight man.

Question: How did you become the go-to straight man for Hollywood comedies?

Answer: I think I have ("Arrested Development" creator) Mitch Hurwitz to thank for that. He wrote me the best straight man I've seen in a long time.

I was lucky to get to play it. Fortunately for me, a lot of the people handing out jobs in Hollywood really liked that show. Unfortunately, the rest of America didn't really watch much of it.

How big a break was it?

Look, my career was barely breathing before that show came around for me. You just need to look at my activity since the show went away to see what a huge life preserver that was for me. Every actor I think is one job away. That's certainly it for me. I'm trying to parlay that into another string of relevancy and try to get another 30 years out of this business.

Your character in "Extract" is also a straight man. You've perfected that type of role, but one of your best was as the over-the-top sleazy public-relations guy in "State of Play."

Again, it was another very well-written character. I didn't have to do much. I was just real lucky to be allowed to play that part. It's certainly not what people think of me for. You need to do a few parts like that before people start to think of you for those parts. A little bit of the chicken before the egg.

Would you like to play more of that kind of thing? Different sorts of roles?

Sure. The grass will always be greener no matter what side you're on. I would love to have as much variety as possible in my career. But longevity is goal one.

What's the status of the much-discussed "Arrested Development" movie?

I can report that it is being written. Mitch Hurwitz is probably halfway through. I would imagine he'll be done in two or three months and then he'll start trying to schedule it and figure out a start date. He has birthed or re-birthed about nine careers there on that cast. Finding out when we're all going to be free and available to do this movie will probably take a little bit of time. I know that I can't wait to get a look at the script and shoot it, because I miss doing it.

"Extract" is funny, and Mike Judge is well respected. You haven't always been so lucky. Is quality the main thing you look for now?

Sometimes you've got to do jobs to pay bills, and sometimes you do jobs you can actually pick and choose from. Very rarely have I had two great jobs I've had to pick between.