If you were to make a list of seemingly fearless actors, Kathy Bates could surely be towards the top. That’s why it’s so surprising that the actor behind “Misery,” “Titanic” and “American Horror Story” admitted she was “terrified” over her new role on CBS’ “Matlock.”
Early into his interview with the acting legend, “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert dove into the psychological deep end. Colbert asked Bates if she “always” feels scared when she’s starting a project. “Like I have a feeling before I do any sort of creative endeavor, I want to sign a confession and have it notarized and sent to the National Archives that says ‘I am a fraud. I never have ideas,’” Colbert half joked.
“Sometimes,” Bates admitted after laughing. “It depends on the character. This, I was just terrified by — I don’t know why. Because it’s just — I don’t know. I was just terrified.”
Bates portrays “Matty” Matlock in CBS’ new reboot of the gender-swapped legal drama. In the series, Matty poses as a former lawyer who’s in desperate need of money to support her grandson. But in actuality, Matty is hiding a big secret of her own as she uses her new job to research a case connected to the opioid epidemic. The original mystery series ran from 1986 to 1995 with Andy Griffith playing Matlock.
Though Bates never formulated why she was so scared of this role in particular, she did reveal the coping strategy she’s developed to help. The actor printed out a quote from Frank Herbert’s “Dune” that she tucks into each of her scripts. The quote has to do with the Bene Gesserit, which Bates described as the “spiritual nuns” of the novel. She also pointed to the veils these characters wear, saying, “Interestingly, ‘Matlock’ talks about being invisible as an older woman.”
Bates didn’t read the full quote due to its length, but she did share an excerpt with the “Late Show” audience: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me, and when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
After hearing the quote, Colbert agreed that it was “true,” noting that he remembered reading that passage in “Dune” during his youth.
“It paralyzes. So I had to find a way to stop being afraid and just learn my lines,” Bates said. Watch the full segment above.
