Jason Bateman Dedicates Emotional 2019 SAG Awards Acceptance Speech to His Family: ‘I’ll Be Home for Kisses’

We feel ya, Jason Bateman! After winning the award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series for Ozark at the 2019 SAG Awards on Sunday, January 27, the star got a little emotional when he gave his acceptance speech onstage.

“I would like to say specifically though to my wife [and] my two daughters — Amanda, Franny and Maple — without you, none of it would be enjoyable and it probably wouldn’t be possible,” Jason, 50, said while holding back tears. “I love you more than I even tell you I do, and I’ll be home for kisses so don’t go to bed. Amanda, pop a mint, I’m going to come give you yours in about five minutes.”

The crowd then sweetly clapped for the dad-of-two as he walked offstage and back to his actress wife, Amanda Anka, who accompanied him to the annual award show. The couple got married in 2001 and, in a past interview, Jason credited his long marriage to Amanda, 50, to their amazing friendship.

“I looked around at the relationships that were the longest in my life, and they were the ones I had with my friends. I thought, if I only wanted to get married once, I should probably marry a friend,” he once told the Daily Telegraph. “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. I just waited until I found a girl that really was that in my life. Amanda is and that’s why it feels so effortless. It gets better every single year.”

Like Jason, Amanda also works as an actress and notably starred in the 2004 comedy Taxi. But when Jason was recently asked if he would let his two young daughters pursue acting, too, he explained that he might want them to find a different profession.

“I don’t think I’d be super-supportive, only because I think any parent wants their child to go into a profession where, if they work hard and are the best at what they do, they’re pretty much guaranteed employment and maybe even success,” he admitted. “I’ll encourage [them] to do anything but this.” With all the trophies that Jason brings home, it might be hard for his daughters to not find his job amazing — but whatever they decide to do, we’re sure they’re going to be great at it!