{"id":176193,"date":"2025-06-22T13:15:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T13:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/22\/what-kathy-bates-said-about-nearly-retiring-before-matlock-role\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T13:15:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T13:15:43","slug":"what-kathy-bates-said-about-nearly-retiring-before-matlock-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/22\/what-kathy-bates-said-about-nearly-retiring-before-matlock-role\/","title":{"rendered":"What Kathy Bates Said About Nearly Retiring Before Matlock Role"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Kathy Bates<\/strong><\/a> has been candid about considering retirement before CBS\u2019 Matlock<\/em> came along.<\/p>\n

Despite having a prolific career spanning five decades, Bates thought about stepping away from acting in recent years. It wasn\u2019t until she read the script for Matty in the gender-flipped Matlock<\/em> legal drama<\/a> that she reconsidered.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s say it was a conscious choice. I watched a couple [episodes of the original Matlock series] to see what I could get out of it, but our show is just so different. I feel like this part was written with me in mind,\u201d Bates shared in a June 2025 edition of Variety<\/em>\u2018s Actors on Actors. \u201c[Creator] Jennie Snyder Urman created it. And I\u2019m lucky because I heard, originally, they wanted to make [my character] Andy Griffith\u2019s great-great-granddaughter. So she\u2019d be 30-something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bates was thrilled to get the chance to tell real<\/a> stories about getting older.<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>‘Matlock’ Burning Questions Answered After Shocking Twist With Kathy Bates<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tMatlock threw viewers for a loop with that shocking premiere plot twist \u2014 but what comes next? Kathy Bates\u2018 character, Madeline \u201cMatty\u201d Matlock, was introduced during the sneak peek of the series, which aired on Sunday, September 22. Despite sharing the same last name as the iconic Matlock series from the \u201980s, Matty appeared to [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cBut Jennie took a walk, and it came to her that she wanted to write something about older women and feeling invisible,\u201d she continued. \u201cWhen I first read the script, I thought, this is just episodic, and I\u2019m not interested in doing that. And then I finally got to the end, and there\u2019s this twist. I said, \u2018Oh, yeah, I\u2019m in. I\u2019m in.\u2019 Because I really had one foot out the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep scrolling for Bates\u2019 candid comments about a potential retirement \u2014 and to find out where she stands now:<\/p>\n

September 2024<\/h3>\n
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\"Matlock\"<\/div>
CBS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bates made headlines when she seemed to allude<\/a> that Matlock<\/em> was her final project, telling The New York Times<\/em>, \u201cThis is my last dance.\u201d Bates said she had plans to move on from acting after a movie shoot \u201csoured\u201d her on the experience, but Matlock changed her mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything I\u2019ve prayed for, worked for, clawed my way up for, I am suddenly able to be asked to use all of it,\u201d she added at the time. \u201cAnd it\u2019s exhausting.\u201d<\/p>\n

October 2024<\/h3>\n
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\"Matlock<\/div>
Sonja Flemming\/CBS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI think people got confused and thought I was going to retire,\u201d she clarified to People<\/em>, while discussing Matlock<\/em>\u2018s success. \u201cWhat I meant was, how can it get any better? I would love for this to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bates did admit to growing frustrated<\/a> in the past due to the limited roles available for women her age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember calling my agents and saying, \u2018I think maybe I want to go into, if not retirement, semi-retirement. If I can\u2019t afford to keep my house, I\u2019ll sell it and maybe go to New York,\u2019\u201d she recalled. \u201cThen this happened. I couldn\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n

January 2025<\/h3>\n
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\"Matlock<\/div>
Sonja Flemming\/CBS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During an episode of the \u201cDinner\u2019s On Me\u201d podcast, Bates credited executive producer Ryan Murphy<\/strong> for how he \u201crejuvenated\u201d her career<\/a> after he cast her in his FX anthology series American Horror Story<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight before he gave me the opportunity to do the show, I had breast cancer and [my show] Harry\u2019s Law<\/em> had been canceled rather unpleasantly,\u201d Bates told host Jesse Tyler Ferguson<\/strong>. \u201cWhen that summer happened, it was degrading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bates recalled feeling \u201ckind of humiliated\u201d at the time, adding, \u201cI felt like I had let my cast down and had never been through an experience like that. And then breast cancer, which does run in my family, so I wasn\u2019t surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actress admitted she wasn\u2019t sure whether she would book more roles<\/a> before Murphy came along.<\/p>\n

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