Kathy Bates Says ‘Matlock’ Will Be Her Last Role Before Retiring: ‘My Final Dance’

“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 says

Kathy Bates speaks onstage at the "Matlock" Presentation Q&A during the CBS Network portion of the 2024 TCA Summer Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on July 13, 2024 in Pasadena, California
Kathy Bates speaks onstage at the "Matlock" Presentation Q&A during the CBS Network portion of the 2024 TCA Summer Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on July 13, 2024 in Pasadena, California (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

When Kathy Bates read the script for “Matlock” in January she wasn’t exactly interested in the role, she told the New York Times in an interview published Sunday. She was ready to retire, but the script paused those plans — though not for good. Bates revealed that once the show is finished, so is she. “This will be my final dance,” the actress told the outlet.

The CBS series has, perhaps surprisingly, become an outlet for what she has left to release. “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 explained.

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