Jason Bateman Pulls Double Duty in Netflix's Black Rabbit — and Earns Emmy Nods for Both
Jason Bateman landed Emmy nominations for both acting in and directing Black Rabbit, the Netflix crime drama that premiered on the streamer on 18 September 2025. The recognition puts him in rare company: performers who direct themselves to a nomination in both categories for the same project.
Bateman plays Vince Friedken, the chaotic brother who returns to New York with loan sharks on his trail, forcing his sibling into the criminal underworld. Jude Law plays Jake, Vince's brother and the owner of what Netflix's own materials describe as Manhattan's hippest restaurant. The eight-part limited series was created by Zach Baylin and Kate Susman, a married writing duo who later sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to unpack the finale and reveal an alternate ending they had considered (The Hollywood Reporter, 25 September 2025).
The supporting cast adds some weight. Troy Kotsur, who won an Academy Award for CODA, appears as a local mobster. Behind the camera, Bateman directed episodes 5 and 6 himself, while Laura Linney and Ben Semanoff each directed two episodes, according to Netflix's Tudum (Netflix Tudum, 8 July 2026). Justin Kurzel, whose credits include The Snowtown Murders and Macbeth, handled the two-episode finale — episodes 7 and 8. Cinematography was split between Igor Martinović and Peter Konczal, with production design by Alex DiGerlando, known for his work on True Detective (The Hollywood Reporter, 17 August 2026).
Black Rabbit received seven Primetime Emmy nominations in 2026, including Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series for Bateman (Television Academy; Netflix Tudum, 8 July 2026). A "limited series" is a format designed to tell a complete story in a single season, as opposed to an ongoing drama renewed year after year.
The Hollywood Reporter's review, published the week of release, described the series as an antihero drama that mixes the tension of Uncut Gems with the restaurant-world texture of The Bear, calling it a story of "two bumbling brothers trying to set things right in Brooklyn" (The Hollywood Reporter, 16 September 2025). Netflix's official plot summary places the action across Manhattan and Brooklyn, where Jake's rising-star restaurant becomes collateral damage in Vince's debts.
For Bateman, the Emmy recognition for Black Rabbit continues a pattern he established on Ozark, where he also directed, produced and starred across four seasons. The difference here is format: Black Rabbit is a closed eight-episode arc, with no second season announced. Baylin and Susman's alternate ending, revealed in their post-finale interview, suggests the story could have landed somewhere else entirely — but the version that reached Netflix is the one now carrying seven Emmy nominations.
