Last month, we reported that the Oscar-winning Hollywood star Kathy Bates, 76, appeared to announce that she’ll be retiring after her new show Matlock eventually ends. She even described the CBS drama as her “last dance.”
But now that Matlock has become a hit, Bates is backtracking on retirement!
Bates Isn’t Done Acting Yet
Bates’ fans will be happy to learn that she isn’t ready to step away from acting just yet.
“I think people got confused and thought I was going to retire,” she told People Magazine. “What I meant was, how can it get any better? I would love for this to keep going.”
You’re not fooling us, Kathy!
The new version of Matlock is a twist on the previous show, which starred Andy Griffith and ran from 1986 to 1995. The timing has been perfect for Bates, who has struggled to find roles for a woman her age as of late.
“I remember calling my agents and saying, ‘I think maybe I want to go into, if not retirement, semi-retirement. If I can’t afford to keep my house, I’ll sell it and maybe go to New York,’” she said. “Then this happened. I couldn’t believe it.”
Bates’ Major Weight Loss
This also comes after Bates lost 100 pounds over the course of six years.
“It all just coincided beautifully so that physically, I’m capable of doing this show,” she gushed. “I don’t have to sit down. I can stand up all day long and walk and move and breathe and do so many things that I couldn’t before.”
Bates began to get tears in her eyes as she said that this period of her life “is just so exciting.”
“It’s emotional,” she added.
When Bates was approached by Matlock show-runners, she “loved the script right away.”
“The twist at the end was what got me because when I was reading it at first I thought, ‘Oh, this is episodic, and I’ve done that before,'” she said. “This deeper life is what grabbed me. I thought, ‘This means something, there’s something to explore here.'”
Check out a trailer for this season of Matlock in the video below.
Bates Connects To Her Character
Bates immediately connected to her character, Madeline “Matty” Matlock. In the pilot, she has a line about women becoming invisible at a certain age. Indeed, few will relate to that more than actresses in the youth-obsessed world of Hollywood.
“In fact, I remember having dinner with some friends, and Diane Keaton was there, and she talked about turning 40 and becoming invisible,” Bates recalled. “That was the first time I thought about it, because I think I felt invisible to begin with. I think that invisibility can lead to the kind of inner despair. With Matty, I think what’s underneath being invisible is feeling that you’re not useful anymore to anyone, to the world, to your job.”
“I often think if I didn’t do this as a living anymore, I’m sure I would face those days where I felt I haven’t paid my dues,” she continued. “I can’t believe I’m 76, and I want the show to run for another five years. I’m going, ‘Holy crap! I’ll be 81.’ 76 and 81 seems 20 years apart to me.”
Matlock Is A Critical And Commercial Hit
Luckily for Bates, it appears that there will be a whole lot more Matlock to come! The show has been a massive hit for CBS and streamer Paramount Plus. In fact, it had CBS’s best premiere in the last five and a half years with 7.73 million viewers.
Things only got better from there. In the three days after the premiere, Matlock’s audience grew 38% to 10.67 million.
Critics have praised Matlock as well, and they’re loving Bates’ performance so far. In the end, Bates may get her wish and continue playing Matty for many years to come!
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