As undercover lawyer-turned-detective Madeline Matlock, Kathy Bates has helped make the CBS show Matlock the most-watched new broadcast series in its first season ever. Perhaps this success is no surprise, given Bates’ 1990 Oscar win for her role of homicidal nurse Annie Wilkes in Misery, three more Academy nominations and myriad roles in hit projects, from the much-beloved Fried Green Tomatoes to the Clint Eastwood-directed Richard Jewell
In Matlock, Bates relished both the opportunity to pay homage to the original detective show starring Andy Griffith as attorney Ben Matlock, and the show’s exploration of societal issues, including the opioid crisis that caused the death of Madeline’s daughter. “I feel so lucky now to have a part that’s so deep and wide,” Bates says. “It speaks to my soul as a human being, and it gives me an opportunity to use everything I’ve learned over so many years.” Here, the actress recalls some of her favorite career memories, the part that got away, and the film that always makes her cry.
My First Screen Lesson
I did a movie called Straight Time with Dustin Hoffman [in 1978]. I didn’t know anything about angles. I didn’t know how to be on a mark. I didn’t know how to be out of somebody’s eye line. I didn’t know any of that stuff. And I was sitting next to Dustin, and when they got the camera on me, suddenly I felt myself tensing up and I was paralyzed, really. I told him, “I feel like an apartment building with all the doors and windows slamming shut.” And he said, “Can you hear Owen setting up the shot?” Owen Roizman, one of the great cinematographers. I said, “No, I can’t.” He said, “Well, listen.” So, I started listening to Owen and hearing the set decorators and everything. And then Dustin said, “That’s it,” because he could tell the moment when I relaxed. The secret to an actor’s creativity is the object of his concentration. When you put your concentration on another actor in a scene, then that’s what you’re doing. You’re not being afraid and nervous. So that was a very important lesson to learn.
My First Screen Lesson
I did a movie called Straight Time with Dustin Hoffman [in 1978]. I didn’t know anything about angles. I didn’t know how to be on a mark. I didn’t know how to be out of somebody’s eye line. I didn’t know any of that stuff. And I was sitting next to Dustin, and when they got the camera on me, suddenly I felt myself tensing up and I was paralyzed, really. I told him, “I feel like an apartment building with all the doors and windows slamming shut.” And he said, “Can you hear Owen setting up the shot?” Owen Roizman, one of the great cinematographers. I said, “No, I can’t.” He said, “Well, listen.” So, I started listening to Owen and hearing the set decorators and everything. And then Dustin said, “That’s it,” because he could tell the moment when I relaxed. The secret to an actor’s creativity is the object of his concentration. When you put your concentration on another actor in a scene, then that’s what you’re doing. You’re not being afraid and nervous. So that was a very important lesson to learn.
The Part I Always Wanted
I guess it’s a part that I did on stage, Night, Mother, which we did in 1983, with a wonderful actress by the name of Anne Pitoniak, written by Marsha Norman. It won the Pulitzer Prize. And they ended up making a movie of it with Anne Bancroft and Sissy Spacek. And I was hugely disappointed, not in an “Oh gee, I want to play this part” way. It was, “Oh gee, we’ve been doing these roles for two years. How phenomenal would that be to put all of that experience on screen?” Both actresses I hugely admired, and Anne Bancroft actually sent me a note after she saw Dolores Claiborne, and she said, “This is an Annie Award,” because she knew how important it was for me. So, I love them both. But the film did not succeed. And now, especially when we see independent features that are so respected, I think, “Oh gosh, I wish we could have done it.” And I’m too old now for it.
The Most Fun I’ve Had On Set
I did a film called Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I loved being on set with Kelly Fremon Craig, a wonderful director, and Jim Brooks was there, and Abby Ryder Fortson, a brilliant young actress. And it was just a joy. When Judy Blume came, it was so much fun to see her on set, and to really laugh and be free to play and to know how much she loved it. At the very end, I was still full of myself playing Sylvia, I must say. They just gave me my head and I just ran with it. And then the moment I wrapped, I got in the car and the heavens opened. It was the drenching storm, and I just thought, It’s biblical. Of course. I’m done. It’s biblical. It’s all over.
The Shows And Films That Make Me Cry
The one that always pops to my mind is a film called Never Look Away, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and Caleb Deschanel was the cinematographer.
The Part That’s Most Like Me
Well, my ex-husband would say Misery. And there are days that I don’t disagree with that. And I think my mother also agreed with him. So yes, I think that would probably be that. I wouldn’t hobble anybody, but I think I do have that wide range of emotions, let’s put it that way.
My Most Quoted Role
It’s mostly from Fried Green Tomatoes. The line about, “I’m older and I have more insurance.” Or “Towanda!” Although I did have an amazing experience when I was over in a village where some shops are, near where I live. I was walking down the sidewalk and a woman flew out of a beauty salon with her cape still on her and her daughter not far behind. She grabbed me and she said that she had seen Dolores Claiborne. And she said when she saw that film, she finally had the courage to leave an abusive relationship.
My Biggest Challenge Yet
Two things: one, I would say, would be the opportunity to play more leads. It’s not that I wanted to be the star of the movie. I wanted roles that would ask more of me, instead of dropping in, in a supporting role. And also, an unexpected thing that I found very difficult for many years is, when I’m wrapped, when a film is done, who am I before the next one? What is my life in between? Because I’ve devoted all of my energy and all of my passion and all of my years to this.
For a long time, I would come home and I would think, after having gone through a divorce, ‘Well, what do I do now?’ Over the last few years, I’ve met some wonderful friends and they really fill my life. We’ve really created a family together, and that has become my life. And I thought I’d paint, I thought I would write. I thought I would do all of these other things when I retire, blah, blah, blah. But life is now, isn’t it? And my niece, Linda, whom I adore so much, said, “Well, it’s like John Lennon said, ‘Life is what happens when you’re busy doing other things.’” And she says, “Getting lost in the right direction.”
My Guilty Pleasure
I love to watch Meet Joe Black. I love that movie. It has two of my favorite actors in it. Well, three. Of course, Anthony Hopkins. Brad Pitt is phenomenal in that film. And Marcia Gay Harden, who was kind enough, when I was directing years ago, to come and do a little bit for me. She’s a phenomenal actress. But also, the story, the music, is phenomenal in that movie. And the famous scene with the old woman from the islands who’s in bed and she’s in pain, and she wants him to help her move on to the next world.
I’ve been studying actors on The Bear. Jamie Lee Curtis was brilliant in that. I watch things over and over to learn from other actors, especially from younger actors, how the craft has gotten so subtle over the years. And that’s another reason why I’ve enjoyed Matlock is because I can do that. That’s a goal that I’m reaching for.
My Desert Island TV Shows
Really it would have to be The Pitt, which was amazing. And Disclaimer was brilliant, I loved that. I guess I would just have to have a streaming service on the desert island. Nothing excites me more than a fantastic performance, a fantastic script. And it makes me want to go back and watch Noah Wyle and all the characters in The Pitt again and again, and study their performances and just say, “I want to be like that someday.”
