Kathy Bates scared the sh-t out of us rang alarms bells a few weeks ago when she told The New York Times that she would be retiring after the newly rebooted Matlock. As I’ve said before, Kathy Bates has more than earned a retirement. She’s gifted us with decades of pathos, hilarity, and batsh-t crazy. My disappointment in her announcement comes down to pure selfishness and greed. I want more Bates! Luckily for us, Kathy heard our collective weeping and clarified that she would keep acting as long as Matlock is running. She also teased that there was a juicy twist in this reboot which was a big part of her wanting to come back to play Madeline “Matty” Matlock. Now that the great twist has been revealed with the first episode airing last Sunday (no spoilers here! I won’t get into any specifics), Kathy is talking about her excitement with the material, acting, and being ready to get some fan recognition again:
On how long she’ll keep acting in Matlock: “As long as I’m physically able to,” says the 76-year-old. “I look at Betty White and I think, ‘Well, maybe. Maybe I could make it that far.’ I certainly love working on this show, and I love the complexity of the character. I love working with this cast, especially Jennie [Snyder Urman] because she’s such a brilliant writer, she hasn’t let us down once. So, yes, if all those systems are a go, if I am in good shape and the scripts are wonderful and all of that, which I anticipate they will be.”
Tourists on the Paramount lot didn’t recognize her: “I thought they’d recognize me immediately when I was on my golf cart sailing by to go someplace,” she says. “I couldn’t even get their attention, you know? I’d be waving and they’d look right at me, and nobody would see who I was, and it got so frustrating. And I thought, ‘Well, maybe when this damn thing comes out they’ll know who I am again.’”
Matty brings a human touch to dealing with clients: “But in a deeper way, she doesn’t have an iPhone between her and the person that she’s talking to, you know? She’s one on one with people, in person, where she can see them in their environment and she picks up on their characteristics as a way for her to be able to talk to them and charm them, and I think a lot of that certainly is lost.”
The ‘addiction’ of acting: “I hate to call it an addiction but even when I got this part, at first I thought, ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ And then I hung up the phone and I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the script and I thought, ‘You know, it’s never going to change for me, I’m always going to be excited to pick up the next script, to see what’s the challenge? Is this something I can do?’ This is one of the most challenging roles I’ve ever played, and I fret over it, I fuss over it, it’s a tremendous amount of work, and I wonder every day if I’ve risen to the challenge, if I’ve done everything I can. Anyway, I guess I’ve said it all.”
“You know, it’s never going to change for me, I’m always going to be excited to pick up the next script, to see what’s the challenge?” Yeah, between that quote and being inspired by Betty White’s longevity, Kathy is so not done with acting. Yay for us! Now onto a debriefing for Matlock 2.0, episode one. I thought Kathy really captured the folksy, unassuming character that Andy Griffith’s Matlock had — the person clients and witnesses open up to because they don’t see the cunning attorney behind the southern charm. It was also fun watching Kathy’s character pick up info and then use it to manipulate the people around her. But in a delightful way! That said, they’re asking us to suspend a whole lotta disbelief that she would be hired at a Manhattan law firm after not practicing for 30 years. Even with the ageism argument she lobbies at them, it’s still a stretch imo. And then there’s the twist of it all. I did not see it coming! Is it another element that’s a bit hard to believe? For sure, but I’m still intrigued and most importantly, I want to see Kathy having fun. If you missed it, you can stream the first episode now on Paramount+. And you have plenty of time to catch up, because the show will be on recess until October 17. Court (of public opinion) now dismissed.
photos credit: Nicky Nelson/Wenn/Avalon, Ryan Hartford/INSTARimages.com, Getty and via Instagram/MatlockCBS