Kathy Bates Reveals Why She Feels ‘Really Lucky’ to Star on Upcoming TV Series ‘Matlock’

The upcoming TV series Matlock cautions that it’s foolish to underestimate what an older woman is capable of doing. Loosely based on the beloved legal drama of the 1980s and 1990s, the new series stars Academy Award winner Kathy Bates as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, an unassuming senior citizen whose appearance belies her brilliant legal mind. “The complexity of the role and the writing — I mean, I pinch myself every day,” Kathy, who talked about the show at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, exclusively tells Closer.

While Kathy, 76, admits, “I’ve been a huge fan, just as an actor, of Andy Griffith,” her series diverges from the one the Mayberry sheriff made famous. Andy’s Ben Matlock was often underestimated for his folksy manner, while Matty Matlock is pointedly ignored due to her age and gender. “I wanted our heroine to be constantly telling the audience that she’s being underestimated,” says executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman. “And then I wanted the audience to enjoy watching her take advantage of that underestimation.”

Kathy’s Women-Powered Role

Matlock is also a show about how women can empower each other. Matty returns to the prestigious law firm where she spent her youth to work with Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), a senior attorney. “There’s a struggle between [Matty’s] relationship with her husband and then this new relationship that she’s having at work with this woman that she so admires,” says Kathy. “They click. And I think she begins to love that part of her life even more.”

For Kathy, who has struggled to find multifaceted roles despite her strong body of work, Matlock has been a gift. “I just feel really lucky. I get to play all of those levels with everything I’ve learned in the last 50 years,” she says. “I just love being able to play all those different notes.”

Reporting by Amanda Champagne-Meadows