Kathy Bates isn't afraid to get candid about some of her career lows.
In 1990, the Matlock actress received critical acclaim — and an Oscar — for portraying Annie Wilkes in the psychological thriller Misery, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name.
However, much as she describes it as her "prime," the peak of her career was certainly not what she expected.
© Getty ImagesSpeaking with Vanity Fair in a wide-ranging interview about her legacy in Hollywood and her comeback with the CBS legal drama Matlock, Kathy noted that even after ruling the awards circuit with Misery, "There was quite a while where I didn't know what was going to happen next."
Also around that time, late screenwriter and director Garry Marshall was casting the role of Frankie for his film adaptation of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, a role that Kathy originated for the off-Broadway production in 1987, but one that the Pretty Woman director ultimately didn't cast her in, but rather Michelle Pfeiffer opposite Al Pacino instead.
Kathy now claims it was because of her appearance. "He couldn't make the leap that people would see me on [the] screen kissing someone," she told VF, adding: "Me actually kissing a man onscreen — that would not be romantic."
© GettyAsked how she reacted to it, she declared: "Well, I've always had that," before recalling a time she learned that her father had told her hometown acting teacher: "You know, she's not conventionally attractive."
She went on to recall another instance a year after Misery when she was promoting the adventure epic At Play in the Fields of the Lord, in which she starred as Aidan Quinn's wife.
© Getty ImagesKathy revealed a British journalist asked her former co-star, in front of her: "You're a leading man. Is it believable that you and Kathy would be married?" leaving her "crushed" and crying "like a kindergartner" behind a locked door.
She decided to get on the next flight out, however then further recounted, with a laugh: "I got on Virgin Air. Sat down. Picked up a magazine. It's about Frankie and Johnny."
© Alamy Stock PhotoIn the last seven years, Kathy has lost upwards of 100 pounds, which she told People has made "working a lot easier" and that it has been a "magnificent experience."
"I'm ashamed to have put myself through that, to be honest," she said of how her previous weight impacted her work, often having to stop to take a breath in between takes. "But now that I've been able to get really healthy, I can move, I can breathe, I can have fun, I'm not sore … I get tired and realize I'm like an old lady, but even the kids get tired. But it's been a magnificent experience."
