From Outcast to Icon
Kathy Bates never saw herself as a movie star—and that’s exactly why audiences saw themselves in her. With her retirement announced just ahead of CBS’s Matlock reboot, Bates leaves behind a powerful legacy of complicated, often misunderstood women. And her final character, Madeline Matlock, may be her most relatable yet.
“I feel like a misfit,” she admitted in a recent interview, referencing her Misery character, Annie. “I’m not a movie star. I’m not.” It’s that vulnerability—so rarely captured in modern television—that makes Madeline’s story all the more resonant.
A Career That Defied the Mold
Bates won an Oscar for playing one of the most unsettling characters in cinema history. But she followed that up with decades of layered, emotional roles that spoke more to truth than spectacle. Whether it was a grieving mother (About Schmidt), a steel-willed survivor (Titanic), or a cancer patient (Harry’s Law), Bates portrayed people who weren’t neat or clean or easy to digest.
With Matlock, she gets to bring all that experience into one final performance.
The Power of Playing Someone Underestimated
Madeline Matlock isn’t flashy. She’s observant. She listens. She outwits. In a Hollywood landscape that favors the loud and the young, Bates’ portrayal is quietly subversive.
“She’s a mastermind,” said showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman. “We wanted to explore what it feels like to be overlooked—until you’re not.”
And that, more than anything, has been Bates’ specialty for 50 years: proving that invisibility is often just camouflage.
Retirement, But Not Retreat
Bates has confirmed that Matlock will be her final performance. She’s battled cancer, chronic pain, and a system that never fully embraced her. But she never quit. Instead, she created a new standard for what resilience looks like—especially for women.
“This is my last dance,” she said. But it’s more than that. It’s a standing ovation for all the misfits she made unforgettable.
