‘I took one pill and my whole body was gone’: Kathy Bates on opioids, ageing and selfish co-stars
As she stars in new legal serial Matlock, about a lawyer using people’s prejudices about older people to her advantage, the Oscar-winner opens up about surviving cancer, the Sacklers and watching herself on screen
Kathy Bates plays an elegant game in Sky’s new reboot of the 1980s legal drama Matlock. She’s the eponymous lawyer Matty, forced out of retirement having fallen upon hard times, thanks to her no-good husband. Or at least that’s what she says. There’s a lot of mischievous observation about ageism and the opportunities it presents: people look through her, so she can glide past security guards; people underestimate her, so she can bedevil them in negotiations; people shout over her like she isn’t there, so she destroys them in a way that’s pleasing to watch.
At first glance, this seems to be a straightforward whodunnit. But Bates would never have taken the role, she says, if that’s all there was to it. The show is certainly enjoyable, warming even, a bit like being hugged. Whether Madeline “Matty” Matlock is appearing in her assumed persona (cuddly, wise) or her true identity (passionate, crusading), she is always agreeably on the side of the angels. “We’ve had responses from people across all ages, across all demographics,” says Bates. “It is a comforting thing to be able to put your mind somewhere else, to something entertaining, that also has a bit of a mystery. People need that right now – to get away from everything and get lost.”
Bates, now 76, has come a long way. We’re speaking just after Halloween – and three people I know dressed up as Bates in Misery, the 1990 film about an obsessive fan who kidnaps, torments and eventually mutilates a famous author. It was epoch-makingly scary, won her an Oscar and properly launched her career, which had been highbrow but halting. Stephen King, who wrote the source book, went alone to a screening and at the end shouted: “Watch out, she has a gun!” to an empty room. It relaunched the career of James Caan, playing the writer, and according to Variety, helped “pave the way for torture porn a decade or so later”.
This, in turn, is part of a broader story: Matty is a wealthy, successful retiree, sucked back in for one last job – avenging her daughter, who has died of an opioid overdose. She wants to get into the law firm to find out which corporate deadbeat buried the documents that could have prevented this tragedy. It’s a gruesomely compelling story, one that will be familiar to viewers of miniseries Dopesick, or readers of Barbara Kingsolver’s Pulitzer-prize-winning novel Demon Copperhead: toxically addictive drugs were flogged as a pharmaceutical magic bullet, with devastating results.
“All of this was going on way back in the early 00s,” Bates says. “Certainly, the Sacklers did so much damage. Their main argument was that people who were really in pain didn’t get addicted, which was ridiculous. They’re totally busted. There are still about 100,000 people dying of this.” Indeed, there were an estimated 108,000 drug overdose deaths in the US last year, of which 81,000 were opioid overdoses.
Bates is a searching person, who won’t be satisfied with gists and impressions. When it came to playing this grieving mother, she says, “I remember asking someone: ‘I don’t have a child, how do I do this?’ And my niece told me, ‘When you have a child, you’re savage about protecting that child.’ I dug for other things in my life: regrets, wishing I could go back and make a different choice. I hurt this person, or that person, the guilt that’s involved with it. We all have those things, I assume.”
Bates had brushed against the world of pain relief when she had ovarian cancer in 2003, and breast cancer in 2012. “I was in a lot of pain, for some reason. I think it was because, well, we don’t have to get too graphic about it. I kept asking for better medication and my doctors refused to give me what I wanted. Now I realise it was because of addiction: that hundreds of thousands of people had already become addicted. I took this one pill and – oh my God – my whole body was just gone. There was no pain anywhere. And I thought, ‘I get it. I get why people want this.’”
She’s an executive producer on it, nevertheless, and watches the rushes with an impartial eye, finding it “delightful”. She is not self-conscious about watching herself: “I’m not just looking at my performance, I’m looking at the choices. It’s always with an eye to making things the best they can be. One can get too precious. I have friends who have never seen themselves on screen, or have been very selective about what they’ve watched. I think it’s a shame, because the work is so good and I wish they would see it and enjoy what they’ve accomplished.”
It’s complex, having a screen self. Bates once explained her long career with the declaration: “I’m not a stunning woman.” She was speaking to the New York Times just after Misery, and added: “I was never an ingenue. I’ve always just been a character actor.” In many ways, this is a golden age for such an actor: looking Hollywood-perfect is more of a garnish in a show that lives or dies on character.
There is some wonderful ensemble acting in Matlock. Skye P Marshall, as her steely boss and possible nemesis Olympia, is particularly noteworthy. Bates can be tantalisingly frank about screen mates from the past, who sadly go un-named. “I worked with someone not long ago who was not prepared,” she says. “It just enraged me, because it was just two of us. They were the lead. I felt it was very selfish, and kind of blind, not thinking about what they needed to do for the other actor. It was preposterous.”
When she moves on to talk about Marshall, the warmth returns. “One of my favourite Anne Tyler quotes is from The Accidental Tourist. I’m paraphrasing but Tyler has her narrator say, ‘It’s not whether he loved her, it’s that he loved who he was when he was with her.’ I think that’s what happens with all of us. We’re different with everybody we meet, and we meet people that rejuvenate us and make us excited about being in the world. But that’s rare. It’s rare for me to have this connection with Skye – and then for Matty to have it with Olympia.”
It’s a thought that brings her back to the theme of ageism. “One wants to feel useful,” Bates says. “What happens when you get older – certainly if you lose your job and find it impossible to get back into the workforce – is that you miss the feeling of being part of something, the feeling of being helpful.” She’s talking about her character, of course, but the whole show and her performance in it may yet be many kinds of helpful.
Bates layered the outfit with a black, leather jacket for an edgy flare and wrapped a slightly loosened pink-striped tie around the collar of her shirt.
For a finishing touch, the actress slipped into a pair of dark brown shoes while also sporting a pair of black and pink-colored leather gloves.
Kathy easily carried a fashionable, pink purse over her left shoulder to hold a few items she needed during the star-studded festivities.
Kathy Bates, 76, showcased her slimmer frame in a stylish look as she attended The Hollywood Reporter’s Annual Women in Entertainment Gala in Beverly Hills on Wednesday
The star’s locks were parted to the side, and effortlessly flowed down past her shoulders in light waves.
Bates opted to for minimal accessories to allow her ensemble to be the main focal point, and added a pair of small, silver earrings.
The Misery actress flashed a cheerful smile as she posed for an assortment of photos upon arriving to The Beverly Hills Hotel where the gala was held.
While stopping by the event, Kathy crossed paths with other celebrity attendees, including pregnant Jennifer Lawrence and Nicole Kidman.
It comes not long after Bates opened up about her weight loss journey and broke her silence on Ozempic speculation.
Over the past seven years, the star dropped a total of 80lbs after focusing on a healthier lifestyle, and lost an additional 20lbs after using Ozempic.
During an interview with People in October, she expressed, ‘There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic.’
‘But I have to impress upon people out there that this was hard work for me, especially during the pandemic. It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough.’
The star donned a pair of black trousers as well as a light pink blouse that was partially unbuttoned around the collar
The Misery actress flashed a cheerful smile as she posed for an assortment of photos upon arriving to The Beverly Hills Hotel where the gala was held
She was inspired to put her health first after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes back in 2017. ‘I ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem.’
‘[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I’d seen what my father had gone through. He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight.’
Kathy made changes to her diet and admitted to the outlet that she ‘used to eat terribly.’
Back in September, Bates further discussed her weight loss journey while talking to Variety amid speculation from fans that she used Ozempic.
During the interview, she gushed about her role in Matlock and explained that prioritizing her health as well as losing weight helped her keep up with the filming schedule.
‘It’s helped me tremendously that, over the last six or seven years, I’ve lost 100 pounds,’ Bates expressed. ‘I don’t think I’ve been this slim since I was in college.’
Kathy stated that she was at her heaviest weight back in 2011 when she was starring in the NBC series, Harry’s Law, and admitted, ‘I had to sit down every moment that I could.’
‘It was hard for me to walk. I’m ashamed I let myself get so out of shape, but now I have a tremendous amount of energy.’
Bates has previously opened up about her weight loss and in 2019, talked to Extra about the inspiration behind putting her health first.
‘This is the best health I’ve been in in years and I’m so grateful – it’s a miracle,’ she told the outlet at the time after losing 60lbs.
The Titanic actress explained, ‘I was facing diabetes – it runs in my family – and I really didn’t want to live with that.’
Kathy said she learned, ‘After you eat for 20-30 minutes, you experience an involuntary sigh.’
‘It’s communication between stomach and brain telling you you had enough…and what I discovered is if you listen to that sigh and push that plate away for just five minutes, you realize you’re satisfied and you don’t have to eat more.’
In 2003, the star was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and later battled breast cancer after her diagnosis in 2012.
She underwent a double mastectomy, but ‘developed a disease called lymphedema after that.’
Lymphedema occurs due to ’tissue swelling caused by an accumulation of protein-rich fluid that’s usually drained through the body’s lymphatic system,’ per the Mayo Clinic.
Bates has previously opened up about her weight loss and in 2019, talked to Extra about the inspiration behind putting her health first; seen in 2003 in Hollywood
The Titanic actress explained, ‘I was facing diabetes – it runs in my family – and I really didn’t want to live with that’; seen in July in Pasadena
Kathy has been keeping busy and recently starred in the CBS reboot, Matlock, which began airing on the network in September.
She took on the leading role of Madeline Matlock in the gender-flipped reboot which is based on the original series starring Andy Griffith which ran from 1986 through 1995.
In October, the show was renewed for a second season, per Variety, despite Bates previously sharing her plans to retire from acting.
During a recent interview with The New York Times, Bates revealed she’s ready to retire, after her new CBS series Matlock runs its course.
But while talking to CBS Mornings, she explained getting the script for Matlock altered her views on retiring. ‘Then all of the sudden, I got this script, and I thought, “Oh wow. I’ve got to do it.”‘
Bates also got candid about ageism and working in Hollywood in her 70s, stating, ‘That was also a big deal for me about being invisible.’
Kathy has been keeping busy and recently starred in the CBS reboot, Matlock, which began airing on the network in September
‘There’s so many women my age who really do feel invisible, and these years are difficult to put that despair at bay to get through everyday.’
The American Horror Story star added, ‘I think if I wasn’t doing this show, I might feel the same way. But it’s all changed overnight.’
Kathy later explained that she views herself as a ‘working actor’ while sharing, ‘It’s always about the work for me.’
‘It’s about the work and the accolades are wonderful and all of this is really exciting…it’s the work that gets us there and it’s the work that we all love to do.’
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