The Oscar-winning actress revealed her future plans to the New York Times. In the interview, the American star spoke about the challenges of managing work and private life: “Sometimes it’s annoying to have this talent because I can’t pull back”
After fifty years of a career in which she has been a protagonist on stage, in cinema, on television, and even directing (since the mid-1990s, for a few TV series episodes and some feature films), Kathy Bates has decided to retire to private life, leaving the profession of acting that made her famous and beloved worldwide.
The actress, who turned seventy-six last June, revealed to the New York Times that she had decided some time ago to stop acting. “I just want my life,” she said in the interview. However, before saying goodbye, there is one last commitment to fulfill: the series Matlock for CBS.
The farewell after fifty years of acting
Just a few days before the debut of the series Matlock in the States (set to premiere on CBS in the second half of September), Kathy Bates reveals to the public that the role of the protagonist in the show, coincidentally named Madeline Matlock—sharing a surname with the famous TV lawyer from the ’80s series—will be the last role of her career.
The actress decided to retire from acting long before accepting this final job. What are the reasons? She did not clarify precisely. However, it seems that a film didn’t go exactly as she had hoped, which she did not mention in the interview.
Kathy Bates is about to close the curtain on a career spanning over fifty years in which she has been a key figure on both big and small screens. Many small roles, as a character actress, up to the international success of Misery, the film that earned her the Oscar and the Golden Globe in the year following its release, in 1991.
The awards and global fame did not change the course of her career, as she continued to work wherever she was needed, in theater, film, and television, where she has been a face of numerous series (most recently, her long participation in American Horror Story).
In cinema, she has worked on both commercial and auteur projects. Among the directors she has worked with are Sam Mendes, Xavier Dolan, Woody Allen, Mike Nichols, James Cameron, and Clint Eastwood.
Her latest film is A Family Affair, where she plays the wise and loving mother of Nicole Kidman, a romantic comedy released in streaming this summer. She will soon appear on TV for Matlock, where she will be the absolute protagonist.
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“Matlock will be my last dance”
Matlock “will be my last dance”, said Kathy Bates, who admitted to reconsidering her retirement plans after receiving the script for the show, a project that led her to delay her idea of retiring.
The actress admitted to feeling a connection with the character, an older woman who decides to collaborate again with a prestigious law firm because she feels she has more to give on a series of cases.
“Suddenly I’m being asked to step in,” the actress said in the interview, explaining how the reboot of Matlock somehow upended her retirement plans, which she had long desired.
“Sometimes it bothers me to have this talent. It conditions my life”, Bates said, adding: “I can’t pull back”.
The new Matlock will soon be available on Paramount + and will also be available on Sky Q, Sky Glass, and Now through the Smart Stick app.