Kathy Bates says 'Matlock' will be her final acting gig before retiring
She said the show will be her "last dance."
Kathy Bates is closing her life chapter as an actress.
While speaking to the New York Times in an interview published on Sunday, the Oscar winner who stars as Madeline Matlock in the new CBS reboot, "Matlock," shared she was ready to retire after a movie shoot had "soured."
The 76-year-old actress found herself crying on her sofa alone in her Los Angeles home after the filming of an unnamed movie before calling her agents to share her desire to retire.
"It becomes my life," she told the outlet. "Sometimes I get jealous of having this talent. Because I can't hold it back, and I just want my life."
Her retirement plan, however, was put on hold a few weeks later when her agents sent her a script for "Matlock."
The original series of the show ran from 1986-1995, starring Andy Griffith as a defense lawyer named Benjamin Matlock.
The reboot show will chronicle Bates' character, who rejoins the law workforce as a senior, scoring legal victories in courtrooms. Bates said she felt like she was called to do the role, especially after experiencing some injustices in the early days of her career.
"Everything I've prayed for, worked for, clawed my way up for, I am suddenly able to be asked to use all of it," she said. "And it's exhausting."
However, she added the show would be her final one, calling it "my last dance."
A source told ABC News on Monday that "it is understood that Bates changed her mind after doing 'Matlock.'"
Throughout her profession, Bates has won an Oscar for her role as Annie Wilkes in "Misery" and two Emmys for her roles in "American Horror Story: Coven" and "Two and a Half Men."
Despite her success, when reflecting on her acting career, she only recalled some of the blunders, telling the outlet, "I never felt dressed right or well."
"I felt like a misfit," she said. "It's that line in 'Misery' when Annie says, 'I'm not a movie star.' I'm not."
"Matlock" will premiere on CBS on Sept. 22 and will be available to stream on Paramount+.
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