Kathy Bates Announces Retirement After Final Role on CBS' Matlock Reboot

After five decades of an extraordinary career, Kathy Bates has announced her impending retirement from acting, concluding with her role in CBS' Matlock reboot., Daily Mail reported. The 76-year-old actress plays Madeline Matlock in this gender-flipped version of the original series (1986-1995) previously led by Andy Griffith.

Bates, an acclaimed actress with an impressive array of accolades including an Oscar, two Primetime Emmys, and two Golden Globes, revealed her decision in a recent interview with The New York Times. She shared that before receiving the Matlock script, she had already considered retirement after a souring experience on a movie set last year.

Expressing her profound connection to her Matlock character, she remarked, "Sometimes I get jealous of having this talent because it becomes my life, and I just want my life." When her agents sent her the Matlock script weeks after she had talked about retiring, she couldn’t resist. She noted that the challenges she faced early in her career mirrored those of Madeline Matlock, making the role deeply relevant to her.

"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," Bates declared. Emphasizing her anticipated retirement, she affectionately deemed her role in the Matlock series, "my last dance."

In conversations about the series and her broader career, her co-star Skye P. Marshall praised Bates for her unwavering dedication and intuitive grasp of storytelling, recounting how Bates would challenge directors and writers positively.

Reflecting on her career, Bates, who earned admiration for roles in "Misery," "Titanic," "About Schmidt," and most recently "Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret?" shared an emotional moment. "I have no right. I see the state of the world, and here I am sitting in a posh restaurant in a posh town with a posh career, going home to a posh house, and what right do I have to cry?"

Despite feeling like a misfit following her Oscar win for "Misery," Bates continues to command respect and love in the industry. "It's that line in Misery when Annie says, 'I’m not a movie star.' I’m not," she confessed.

Produced by Jennie Snyder Urman and set to premiere on September 22, the new Matlock will see Bates turning her real-life and on-screen experiences into a deeply powerful finale to her storied career, one that fans are undeniably eager to witness.

Earlier, SSP wrote that Salma Hayek celebrated 58th birthday with stunning Instagram photos.