Kathy Bates Says She Will Retire After Matlock: ‘This Is My Last Dance’

Kathy Bates is ready to roll the credits on her decades-long acting career.

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In an interview published in the New York Times on Sunday, Bates reveals she will retire after CBS’ upcoming legal drama Matlock comes to an end. “This is my last dance,” she said.

In fact, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress says she was ready to retire after an unnamed movie shoot went badly. “It becomes my life,” she said. “Sometimes I get jealous of having this talent. Because I can’t hold it back, and I just want my life.”

But then Bates’ agents sent her the script for Matlock , which is inspired by the classic Andy Griffith TV series of the same name. She recalls connecting with the series’ protagonist immediately and felt called to the role.

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“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, but adds, “it’s exhausting.”

The legal drama — premiering Sunday, Sept. 22 at 8/7c on CBS — stars Bates as Madeline Matlock (aka Matty), a septuagenarian who achieved success in her younger years and decides to rejoin the work force at a prestigious law firm where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases. ( Watch trailer .) The series also stars Skye P. Marshall ( Good Sam ), Jason Ritter ( Parenthood ), David Del Rio ( Maggie ) and Leah Lewis ( Nancy Drew ).

Bates is best known for playing Annie Wilkes in the 1990 psychological thriller Misery , for which she earned an Academy Award. Her TV credits include Six Feet Under , The Office , Disjointed , Harry’s Law and five seasons of American Horror Story . She has won two Emmys: one in 2012 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Two and a Half Men , and the other in 2014 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie in 2014 for AHS: Coven . Her most recent acting credit is Netflix’s A Family Affair , opposite Nicole Kidman.

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