Kathy Bates was ready to retire before starring on the new CBS series Matlock.
In an interview with the New York Times, published Sunday, the Oscar winner shared that after a movie shoot had “soured” — she wouldn’t name the film — she was crying at home on her sofa before telling her agents the next day that she wanted to retire.
“It becomes my life,” the 76-year-old said of acting and work. “Sometimes I get jealous of having this talent. Because I can’t hold it back, and I just want my life.”
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A few weeks later, her agents sent her a script for the rebooted series Matlock. The original ran from 1986 to 1995 and starred Andy Griffith as Benjamin Matlock. The now rebooted series will chronicle Bates’ character, attorney Madeline “Matty” Matlock, rejoining the law workforce as a senior and racking up courtroom wins. The story intrigued Bates, which Rolling Stone noted was “the idea of playing a woman out to right wrongs.”
“Everything I’ve prayed for, worked for, clawed my way up for, I am suddenly able to be asked to use all of it,” she said. “And it’s exhausting.”
The show will be her final one. “This is my last dance,” she revealed.
CBS Studios is producing Matlock, which comes from Jane the Virgin creator Jennie Snyder Urman (via her overall deal at the studio). Urman executive produces with her Sutton Street partner Joanna Klein, Cloud Nine’s Eric Christian Olsen and John Will, Bates and director Kat Coiro.
With a 50-plus year career, the actress said of stardom, “I never really thought about being a movie star. I just wanted to be the best I could be.”
Bates won the Academy Award for her role as Annie Wilkes in 1990’s Misery. She also won Emmys for her roles in American Horror Story: Coven and Two and a Half Men.
Despite her accolades, when looking back at her career, Bates said, “I never felt dressed right or well. I felt like a misfit. It’s that line in Misery when Annie says, ‘I’m not a movie star.’ I’m not.”
Her other television arcs include Six Feet Under, The Office, American Horror Story and Netflix’s two-season-long 2017 sitcom Disjointed. Her recent film credits include Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and Netflix’s A Family Affair.
Matlock will premiere on CBS on Sept. 22 and will follow on streamer Paramount+.
