TheWrap magazine: “I was older and I just felt, ‘This is it, I’m done,’” the actress says of the days before “American Horror Story” and “Matlock” brought her back
For decades, Kathy Bates has been both celebrated and underrated. When she won an Oscar for her fearsome performance in Rob Reiner’s 1990 Stephen King adaptation of “Misery,” she was greeted as a newcomer, even though she had made her film debut nearly 20 years earlier in Miloš Forman’s “Taking Off.” Her career since then has included Oscar noms for “Primary Colors,” “About Schmidt” and “Richard Jewell,” 14 Emmy nominations and two wins for “Two and a Half Men”and “American Horror Story: Coven,” and a varied resume that boasts both dramas like “Dolores Claiborne” and “Titanic” and comedies like “The Waterboy.”
Bates’ latest role is the title character in Jennie Snyder Urman’s “Matlock,” which borrows its name from the Andy Griffith legal drama from the 1980s and ’90s but knowingly subverts it in the process: Bates’ Madeline Kingston, aka Matty Matlock, solves cases just as Griffith’s Matlock had done, but it turns out that she’s playing the role of Matty in order to infiltrate a law firm that hid evidence on behalf of a pharmaceutical company that was complicit in the opioid-related death of her daughter.
The series is the most successful new show on broadcast television this season, and it could well bring Bates, who is 76, a rare Emmy nomination for a lead role. (So far, 10 of her 13 Emmy noms for acting have come in supporting and guest categories.)
I was sitting one table away from you at the Critics Choice Awards in January. And when you won the Best Actress in a Drama Award for “Matlock,” the room seemed completely thrilled, and you seemed absolutely shocked.
I was gobsmacked. I was sure that Anna Sawai (from “Shōgun”) was going to win. I never thought in a million years I would win. That’s why I didn’t get all dressed up. People thought I’d come from riding a Harley or something.
Has “Matlock” been a surprise for you in other ways, too?
It’s been a surprise in every way. I’m surprised that the material is so wonderful, and surprised that Jennie is consistently someone I love working with, and surprised that (CBS Entertainment President) Amy Reisenbach and (CBS President and CEO) George Cheeks and (CBS Studios President) David Stapf are such wonderful people, and that the cast gets along so well. And surprised, of course, at what a tremendous audience response we’ve had. It’s just unbelievable, right?
When I watched the first episode, I thought it was going to be a law show with a different case each week until the last few minutes of the show, when your character’s real intentions were revealed. And that changed everything. What was your reaction when you first read it?
It was exactly the same. I had no expectations, and I had not seen Jennie’s other show, “Jane the Virgin,” which I hear was very successful. As I began to read, I thought, “Oh, I’ve done this before, and I don’t know if I’m interested in playing another lawyer.” And then when I got to the twist at the end, I thought, “OK, now we’re talking about a character that has a cause.” It just blew everything wide open. And it was also about the opioid crisis, which I know from personal experience. Years ago, when I had breast cancer, I wanted to have more medication, and my doctors were very reluctant. And now I understand why.That’s how 90% of people get addicted, because of injuries or surgery. So it’s been a very sobering journey.
Knowing that, did you respond to the script immediately?
They gave me a script on Friday, and I met with Jennie on Monday. I liked her very much, and we settled down right away and got to work. I had a million questions that I had written down over the weekend. When I sat down, I remember saying to her, “I love this. Don’t change a word. Let’s talk about this character.” And then I just dove right in.
