'Arrested Development' Turns 20: See the Cast Then and Now

Arrested Development.

When Fox announced back in 2006 that it was cancelling its critically beloved but little-watched family sitcom Arrested Development, the show’s diehard fans were disappointed but not surprised. The series, a black comedy following the wackily amoral antics of the once-wealthy Bluth family whose fortune evaporates overnight had struggled to find an audience on network TV. But over the course of the next few years, it slowly but surely became a cult classic. So much so that in 2012, when the brand new Netflix streaming platform was searching for properties to revive, Arrested Development was a no brainer. Following that revival season in 2012, the Bluths returned for a fifth and final run in 2019. How's that for beloved?

Here’s a guide to what the key cast members are doing now, 20 years on from the show's 2003 premiere.

What is the Arrested Development cast doing now?

Jason Bateman

In the years immediately following the end of Arrested Development’s OG run, Bateman appeared in a number of big-screen comedies including Juno, Identity Thief and both Horrible Bosses movies. But more recently, he’s become widely known as a dramatic actor ever since being cast in the lead role in Netflix’s Ozark, where Bateman plays a mild-mannered financial planner who gets in over his head when he begins laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel. Bateman was nominated for multiple Emmys for his role in the series, and also earned a nod for his performance in the 2020 HBO miniseries The Outsider. Adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name, the series featured Bateman in the brief but key role of a baseball coach who is arrested for the murder of a young boy. Bateman has also built a profile as a producer, director (he won an Emmy for his directing work on the second season of Ozark) and even a podcaster. He and AD costar Will Arnett co-host the banter-filled interview show SmartLess alongside Will & Grace's Sean Hayes.

Related: Where Is the 'Family Ties' Cast Now?

Will Arnett

Though Gob Bluth is a hard act to follow, Arnett has gone on to play some similarly iconic roles since the series ended, including Batman in the Lego Movie franchise (a gravelly-voiced role that he arguably auditioned for years earlier in Arrested Development’s “club sauce” scene). Arnett is also the voice of the title role in Netflix’s Bojack Horseman, a supreme Hollywood satire about an anthropomorphized horse and onetime sitcom star desperately seeking a comeback. It's a tragicomic triumph that feels like a natural successor to Gob.

Off-screen, Arnett puts his distinct voice (and quick wit) to use co-hosting SmartLess with Bateman and Hayes.

Portia De Rossi

De Rossi was already well known prior to Arrested Development for playing Nelle Porter in Ally McBeal, and after AD ended its initial run on Fox, she made appearances in a number of other shows including Nip/Tuck and Scandal. In 2011 she published her extraordinary memoir, Unbearable Lightness, in which she recounts her years-long, near-fatal battle with anorexia and bulimia, which was fostered by the impossible pressure she felt as a young woman in Hollywood. More recently, De Rossi has confirmed that she’s quit acting—although she made an exception for Arrested Development, appearing in both of the show’s revival seasons on Netflix.

"I did quit," she told Entertainment Tonight at the premiere of the show’s fifth and final season in 2018. “I have to say I love Arrested Development so much, and if I wasn't a part of this season, I would be so sad," she continued. "I'm happy to be a Bluth. Once a Bluth, always a Bluth, I say. So apart from Arrested Development, I have quit acting."

Jessica Walter (1941-2021)

Walter had already had a long and storied career before being cast in Arrested Development, including a lead role in Clint Eastwood’s 1971 directorial debut, Play Misty For Me. But her indelible performance as the Bluth family’s formidable, chilly matriarch Lucille elevated her to TV icon status, as did her key vocal role as spy agency chief Malory Archer in the FX animated series Archer. Walter died in March of 2021 at the age of 80, prompting an outpouring of tributes from her Hollywood colleagues, and a touching tribute in Archer’s Season 12 finale.

Jeffrey Tambor

Tambor followed up his role in Arrested Development by starring in another acclaimed series about an emotionally dysfunctional family—Amazon Prime Video’s Transparent, in which he plays Maura, a trans woman who is coming out to her family for the first time as of the pilot. Tambor won two Emmy awards for his performance. However, in the fall of 2017, he was accused of sexual harassment on the show’s set (a claim he denied), and was subsequently fired. During a New York Times interview with several Arrested Development cast members, Jessica Walter revealed that Tambor had been verbally abusive toward her on the show’s set. "I have to let go of being angry at him," she said. "He never crossed the line on our show, with any, you know, sexual whatever. Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize."

David Cross

Prior to playing the one and only Tobias Fünke in Arrested Development, Cross was best known for his long-running hosting role alongside Bob Odenkirk in the sketch comedy series Mr. Show, for which he racked up several Emmy nominations. He wrote, directed and starred in the IFC black comedy series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, which ran for three seasons, and has appeared in a variety of recent shows including Modern Family, What We Do In The Shadows and Station Eleven.

Related: The 30 Best Sitcoms of All Time

Tony Hale

After bringing the peculiar and devoted mama's boy Buster Bluth to life on Arrested Development, Hale went on to play another needy oddball in Veep. That latter role as Gary Walsh, the doting and loyal-to-a-fault personal aide to Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Vice President Selina Meyer, earned him six Emmy nominations and two wins.

Alia Shawkat

Shawkat was just 14 when she was cast as Maeby Fünke, and since then has carved out a successful career in smart, indie-leaning projects. In 2016, she was cast in the lead role of the TBS black comedy Search Party, playing Dory, a disaffected young Brooklynite who becomes an amateur sleuth when her college friend suddenly goes missing, and drags an ill-equipped gang of friends along for the increasingly dangerous ride.

Michael Cera

Just a year after Arrested Development wrapped up its original run on Fox, Cera had a huge breakout role in the Oscar-nominated coming of age movie Juno, opposite Elliot Page. Since then, he’s appeared in hit comedies like Superbad, genre movies like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and indie gems like Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Most recently, he played the fan-favorite role of Ken’s buddy Allan in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Back on the small screen, he portrays Amy Schumer's love interest in her semi-autobiographical Hulu series Life & Beth.

Next, See the Cast of 'Frasier' Then and Now