Oscar-Winner Kathy Bates Makes Big Career Announcement After Decades in Industry

Oscar-winning actor Kathy Bates made a surprising revelation about the future of her career in an interview with The New York Times published Sept. 8, admitting that she will be retiring from acting after her upcoming role.

Bates is doing press rounds for Matlock, a reimagining of the classic television procedural which starred Andy Griffith as Holmes-ian criminal defense lawyer Ben Matlock. Bates will play a version of the character named Madeline Matlock, a former lawyer who, feeling unseen in her retirement, jumps back into the industry and “uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases and expose corruption from within,” according to Entertainment Weekly.

“This is my last dance,” Bates told NYT of the series, which premieres Sept. 22 on CBS and Paramount+. “It becomes my life,” she continued. “Sometimes I get jealous of having this talent. Because I can’t hold it back, and I just want my life.”

Shocking as it may seem, the Family Affair star actually intended to retire sooner. She explained that a recent production was so traumatizing it had left her bawling uncontrollably on her sofa, convinced it was time to quit the industry. Though Bates didn’t specify the film or any specific incidents, she’s likely referring to 2023’s The Miracle Club. It was a passion project for the actor which took her over 20 years to get made, and then was almost not released at all, largely due to Hollywood business wrangling.

But just when she thought she was out, Matlock’s pilot script pulled her back in. Bates felt the role offered her an opportunity to stretch her acting muscles in a way she hadn’t for some time. “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 marveled. But, the Misery Oscar winner stipulated, “It’s exhausting.”

Back in July, Bates made similar remarks to EW, explaining why she thought Matlock was the perfect note on which to end her career. "I just feel really lucky. I get to play all of those levels with everything I've learned in the last 50 years,” she said of embodying Madeline. "I love playing all those facets of this character, and I just feel so lucky to be able to do all of that in one person and in the same episode. I love being able to play all those different notes."

Bates never imagined her career would achieve the heights that it did, but she was able to do so simply through her devotion and love of the craft. “I never really thought about being a movie star,” she reflected. “I just wanted to be the best I could be.”

Matlock premieres Sept. 22 on CBS and will be available to stream on Paramount+.