“Sometimes Id get on a plane and fly home.”
Bates explained that she was often unable to withstand people, especially journalists, underestimating her.
“I had a wonderful producer, God rest, him, Saul Zaentz,” she continued.
Kathy Bates.Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
“And I remember we were in London, and it was just a nightmare.
I’m not going to put myself through this anymore.'
And I remember Saul coming up to me and saying, ‘You gotta get tougher.'”
In addition to Zaentz, others regularly offered Bates similar advice, encouraging her to develop thicker skin.
“So thats what I’ve tried to do.
But sometimes I take it too far and I can be like a bull in a China shop.”
I’m not like my characters," she concluded.
“I wish I was.”
Though Bates knew Griffith as an actor, she didn’t pay much attention to the original series. "
“All of it is a blur.
But I did watch it a little bit.
“I just feel really lucky,” she said ofMatlock.
“I get to play all of those levels with everything I’ve learned in the last 50 years…
I love being able to play all those different notes.”
She concluded: “Playing each scene is like creating a little bead on a necklace, you know?
You just have to have faith.
