NEW YORK - Child stars have it rough with their folks. Just ask Jason Bateman, who says his mom and dad are more like friends than parents.

"I'm not a great brother or uncle or son for that matter," Bateman, who co-stars in the upcoming Will Smith movie "Hancock," says in the cover story of the new issue of Best Life magazine. "I don't have this obligatory 'I have to call Mom once a week,' because we're just buddies."

Bateman says he and sister, Justine supported the family with their paycheques from "Little House on the Prairie," "Family Ties," "Silver Spoons" and other shows. He fired his father as his manager when he was 20.

Since then, he's had an off-and-on relationship with both his father and mother.

"I don't think there are many people who would say that was a healthy situation," Bateman said.

There were some slow years after child stardom for Bateman, now 39, before he starred in the critically acclaimed sitcom "Arrested Development."

"I got down to a nine (golf) handicap," said the actor, who appeared in the hit film "Juno" last year. "The day I became a single-digit, I called my agent and said, 'You have to look harder. I shouldn't be this good at golf."