Fans of the program were unhappy but not shocked when Fox announced in 2006 that it was ending the critically acclaimed but little viewed family sitcom Arrested Development. Network TV failed to find an audience for the black comedy series, which followed the ridiculously immoral actions of the once wealthy Bluth family whose fortune vanishes in an instant. But in the ensuing years, it steadily but inevitably established itself as a cult classic. So much so that Arrested Development was an obvious choice for the newly launched Netflix streaming service in 2012 when it was looking for assets to bring back to life. In 2012, after that resurrection season, the Bluths made a comeback for their fifth and last season in 2019. That’s how you do, my love?
November 5th, Numbrix 9
What is the Arrested Development cast doing now?
Alia Shawkat
Since being cast as Maeby Fünke at the age of 14, Shawkat has successfully carved out a career in astute, independent films. She was chosen for the main part in the TBS dark comedy Search Party in 2016. In the film, she plays Dory, a disillusioned young Brooklynite who, after her college friend vanishes, turns becomes an amateur detective and takes her unprepared group of friends on an increasingly perilous journey.
David Cross
Cross was most renowned for his long-running hosting position alongside Bob Odenkirk in the sketch comedy series Mr. Show, for which he received multiple Emmy nominations, before he played the one and only Tobias Fünke on Arrested Development. In addition to appearing in a number of current shows like Modern Family, What We Do In The Shadows, and Station Eleven, he wrote, directed, and starred in the three-season IFC black comedy series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.
Jason Bateman
Following the conclusion of the original Arrested Development series, Bateman starred in several big-budget comedies, such as Identity Thief, Juno, and both Horrible Bosses films. However, after landing the main part in Netflix’s Ozark, in which Bateman portrays a mild-mannered financial planner who gets into trouble when he starts laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel, he has gained widespread recognition as a serious actor. In addition to receiving nominations for his work in the 2020 HBO miniseries The Outsider, Bateman was nominated for many Emmys for his involvement in the series. The show, which was adapted on the same-titled Stephen King novel, had Bateman in a small but crucial part as a baseball coach who is taken into custody for the child’s murder. In addition, Bateman has established a reputation as a podcaster, producer, and director (he received an Emmy for his directing work on the second season of Ozark). He co-hosts the humorous interview program SmartLess with Will & Grace’s Sean Hayes, along with AD costar Will Arnett.
Jeffrey Tambor
In the critically acclaimed television series Transparent on Amazon Prime Video, Tambor played Maura, a trans woman who is coming out to her family for the first time as of the pilot. This was his second part after his work on Arrested Development. Tambor’s performance earned him two Emmys. But he was sacked in the fall of 2017 after being accused of sexual harassment on the set of the show, a charge he refuted. Jessica Walter said that Tambor had verbally abused her on the set of Arrested Development during an interview with multiple cast members for the New York Times. “I have to let go of being angry at him,” she stated. “He never went overboard with any sexual content on our show. Yes, he harassed me verbally, but he did say sorry.”
Jessica Walter (1941-2021)
Prior to being cast in Arrested Development, Walter had a lengthy and illustrious career, which included a leading part in Clint Eastwood’s 1971 feature debut, Play Misty For Me. However, her iconic portrayal of the cold and imposing matriarch of the Bluth family, Lucille, as well as her important voice role as spy agency chief Malory Archer in the FX cartoon series Archer, catapulted her into the realm of TV icon. When Walter passed away in March 2021 at the age of 80, her Hollywood peers sent heartfelt tributes to her, and the Season 12 finale of Archer featured one of these tributes.
Michael Cera
In the Oscar-nominated coming-of-age film Juno, starring alongside Elliot Page, Cera had a significant breakthrough role just a year after Fox’s original run of Arrested Development came to an end. Since then, he has acted in independent classics like Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, hit comedies like Superbad, and genre films like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. He most recently portrayed Ken’s friend Allan in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which is a fan favorite role. Returning to the small screen, he plays the romantic partner of Amy Schumer in her Hulu sitcom Life & Beth, which is semi-autobiographical.
Portia De Rossi
Before Arrested Development debuted on Fox, De Rossi was well-known for her role as Nelle Porter in Ally McBeal. She went on to participate in several other Fox series, such as Nip/Tuck and Scandal. Her incredible memoir, Unbearable Lightness, which chronicled her years-long, almost fatal struggle with bulimia and anorexia and was fueled by the unfathomable pressure she experienced as a young woman in Hollywood, was published in 2011. De Rossi announced more recently that she had given up acting, however she did make an exception for Arrested Development, where she starred in both of the Netflix revival seasons of the program.
During the fifth and last season of the show’s 2018 premiere, she admitted to Entertainment Tonight, “I did quit.” “It’s true that I adore Arrested Development, and I would be devastated if this season ended,” she went on. Being a Bluth makes me happy. I say, once a Bluth, always a Bluth. I have thus given up acting, with the exception of Arrested Development.”
Tony Hale
Hale played a needy eccentric in Veep after bringing the strange and loyal mama’s son Buster Bluth to life on Arrested Development. He received six Emmy nominations and two wins for that latter role as Gary Walsh, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s devoted and unwaveringly loyal personal assistant.
Will Arnett
Even though Gob Bluth is a difficult act to follow, Arnett has gone on to portray a number of equally legendary characters after the conclusion of the show. One such role is Batman in the Lego Movie franchise, for which he may have tried out years earlier in the “club sauce” scene of Arrested Development. In Netflix’s Bojack Horseman, a brilliant Hollywood parody about an anthropomorphized horse and former sitcom star frantically attempting a comeback, Arnett also provides the voice of the title character. It’s a tragicomic triumph that seems to be Gob’s obvious heir.
Off-screen, Arnett co-hosts SmartLess alongside Bateman and Hayes, utilizing his unique voice and sharp wit.
