Having focused most of her past decade of TV acting to projects created by the prolific Ryan Murphy and Chuck Lorre, Kathy Bates surprised fans and general TV audiences by joining CBS’ reboot of the folksy mystery drama Matlock. Debuting as part of the upcoming Fall TV schedule, the drama has been a long time coming, with the 2023 strikes delaying its production, and Bates has now revealed she was destined for retirement before agreeing to the procedural.
Also taking on an executive producer role for Matlock, which also boasts NCIS: Los Angeles vet Eric Christian Olsen as an EP, Bates had apparently convinced herself that she was ready to hang up her Hollywood hat and retire. Unfortunately, it wasn’t sparked purely by an interest in resting and/or relaxing, but rather a disappointing film production. Speaking to The New York Times, the Emmy winner shared that her recent experiences filming for a movie are what put her in the retirement mindset.
It’s noted in the story that Bates spoke about how much mental and physical dedication she brings to each project she signs on for, and it’s implied that her efforts were not well received in the project, which Bates did not identify by name. The day after her work on that project was through, she apparently called her agents and expressed her desire to retire, and that stuck for the next few weeks, at least until those same agents sent her the Matlock pilot script.
Despite not having any long-lasting affection for the original series, which starred Andy Griffith as the titular attorney across its two-network run from 1986-1995, Bates says she quickly related to the way the protagonist was written. This iteration, Madeline “Matty” Matlock, is a brilliant, sly, and morally sound woman who feels increasingly as if her age has made her invisible to the world at large. And it’s the character’s penchant for justice that the 76-year-old related to, saying:
Everything I’ve prayed for, worked for, clawed my way up for, I am suddenly able to be asked to use all of it. And it’s exhausting. . . . This is my last dance.
While it may not seem like a CBS procedural is the ideal place for an esteemed actress to spread her creative wings, Matlock apparently gives Bates the opportunity to play up her vigorous energy while also giving her room to lean into emoting the pain and heartache that she suffered not just in the project that came before, but at various times across her extremely successful career.
Kathy Bates, who'd filmed 2/3 of Matlock's first 18-episode season at the time of the interview, revealed that her character Matty used her work in the courtroom as a filter through which to work out her more personal struggles. And in a similar way, the actress is doing the same. As she put it:
Maybe on some deep level that’s why I was attracted to this.
It's obviously not wonderful to hear that Kathy Bates endured a career moment that was so negative that it made her ready for her final curtain call. But I sincerely hope that bringing this revised take on Matlock to life is as therapeutic and sanative as can be, and that it reminds her how positive and helpful the industry can be.
While Bates didn’t name exactly which movie it was, it was presumably one of the four films she co-starred in that was released across 2023 and 2024, including the Judy Blume adaptation Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Thaddeus O'Sullivan’s pilgrimage drama The Miracle Club, Castille Landon’s reunion comedy Summer Camp, and Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron’s critically meh rom-com A Family Affair. Unless she was talking about a project that she'd vacated or is no longer going forward.
Co-starring Skye P. Marshall, Jason Ritter, David Del Rio, and Leah Lewis, Matlock will arrive on CBS for its sneak preview premiere on Sunday, September 22, at 8:00 p.m. ET, before returning to the network for its regular time slot on Thursday, October 17, at 9:00 p.m. ET.
