Kathy Bates plays a new-fashioned (and wily) Matlock that will keep the viewers guessing
Crafty seventy-something attorney Madeline “Matty” Matlock (Academy Award winner Kathy Bates) has an ulterior motive for bulldozing her way into a job at an esteemed Chicago law firm in Matlock, a reimagining of the 1986-95 legal drama of the same name. You’ll think you know her motivation by the end of the first hour, but Bates promises the twists keep coming until the final episodes.
“Matlock has an agenda that not everyone knows about,” says the actress, who is famous for inhabiting characters that make us squirm (like her Oscar-winning breakthrough role as a deranged fan in Misery and her Emmy-scoring turn as a sadistic socialite in American Horror Story). This time around, Bates is someone more normal. We think.
This Matty is no blood relation to the original Ben Matlock, a folksy, curmudgeonly lawyer played by Andy Griffith. Part of this show’s humor is that the vintage television series exists, but Matty’s only connection to it is the coincidence of her last name. Broadcast TV barely registers for Matty’s busy boss, senior attorney Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), who loves a good pro bono case. Her ex-husband Julian (Jason Ritter), son of the firm’s head honcho, is intrigued by the smart grandma working alongside the young associates, including charismatic Billy (David Del Rio) go-getter Sarah (Leah Lewis) and Simone (Andrea Londo), Sarah’s law school classmate. There’s also Kira (Piper Curda) who works in IT at the firm and who will be a love interest for Sarah.
What Matty does share with Griffith’s attorney is she doggedly investigates each case of the week like it’s the crime of the century. And she can play sweet old codger while slyly figuring out her next move. But what’s she really hiding? We put Bates on the stand to find out.
What’s Matty really after?
Kathy Bates: I can’t give everything away, but she is on a mission. The law firm is not allowed to discriminate against her age. She uses this to get into the front door and ostensibly to create a whole new life for herself. She even keeps things from her husband, every now and then. At the very end, just when you think Matlock has only fooled the people in her life, you realize she’s also fooled the audience.
Did you see a role like this coming at the age of 75?
To have this at the end of my career is an incredible gift. I never dreamed I would have a third act like this. I’ve never thought at my age I’d be playing such a wonderful role and for network, which so many people are going to see. She uses her lifetime of experience and wisdom to really connect with people, instead of Googling everything, and that helps her solve cases. She doesn’t live her life through a screen. She lives it looking into people’s eyes and having real relationships.
Have you ever felt invisible?
I do now actually! They are often having these tours on the Paramount lot [where Matlock shoots] and I’m going by in my golf cart and they never recognize me. It’s this running joke from the first time I was there for the first episode. I’d ride by and they’d go right by me, and I thought, “What the hell? Don’t they know who I am?” [laughs] I would start by a little bit of a wave. Now I’m going like this [waves arms frantically] trying to get their attention [laughs]. Maybe [it’s] because I’ve gotten old or maybe because I’ve gotten thinner, I don’t know. I often say if I wasn’t well known, I’d be invisible.
How does Matty see her younger ageist coworkers?
She looks at them as not being very enlightened. They can go ahead and laugh as much as they want at her, but she knows her wisdom counts for a lot.
This series also deals with sexual harassment.
In the third episode, Matty comes face to face with her own lack of education, lack of awareness that times have changed. She has a lot to learn from the younger people in the office.
Is there a dream number of Matlock seasons you’d to do?
I’d say maybe five. We’ll see how long God gives me. I wish my mother was still alive to see it. She was born in 1907. I don’t even think she had her own bank account at one point. Women were expected to be secretaries and divorce was a no-no. It’s great that women are leaders of countries and in high places. I love seeing that reflected in a television series.
Premieres Sunday, Sept. 22, 8/7c, CBS