THE CAST OF Arrested Development was interviewed by the New York Times this week, to drum up a bit of publicity for the incoming fifth season.
Sitting down with Jason Bateman (Michael), Alia Shawkat (Maeby Fünke), Jessica Walter (Lucille), Will Arnett (Gob Bluth), David Cross (Tobias Fünke), Tony Hale (Buster) and Jeffrey Tambor (George Snr), they talked about the series cult following before addressing the elephant in the room – Jeffrey Tambor.
Tambor was accused of sexual misconduct on the set of Transparent, allegations he denied but that still resulted in him being fired from the show. When the accusations emerged, Arrested Development had nearly finished production; creator Mitchell Hurwitz and the cast members expressed support for Tambor.
In the interview, Walter spoke publicly about an incident in which Tambor blew up at her on set for the first time.
“I have to let go of being angry at him,” Walter said through tears, as Tambor sat a few feet away.
He never crossed the line on our show with any sexual whatever. Verbally, yes he harassed me, but he did apologise.”
[In] almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set and it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now.”
Prior to this admission, Bateman was going to lengths to defend his c0-star.
It’s a very amorphous process, this sort of bullshit that we do, you know, making up this fake life. It’s a weird thing, and it’s a breeding ground for atypical behaviour and certain people have certain processes.”
At which point, Shawkat interjected:
That doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.”
When asked about further seasons of the show, Tambor said he “surely hopes” he would be a part of them.
I hope so. I love these people, and Netflix has been so supportive and Mitch has been so supportive. I sent out an email to these guys and I just said, “I’m so thankful and sorry for the distraction and you have to be asked these questions and such.”
And I went much further into it with The Hollywood Reporter, and I’ve denied the allegations but the upshot is I won’t be playing Maura anymore. I’m going to miss that cast. I love that cast, and the answer is I would love to do Arrested. I love these people. I’m such a fan of this.”
Bateman added that he wouldn’t do any further seasons without Tambor, saying there was “no reason” why he shouldn’t come back.
Many people were critical of Bateman’s – and his male costars lack of – responses.
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You can read the full article and a listen to an excerpt from the article here.
