Kathy Bates Reveals 100-Lb. Weight Loss: ‘Don’t Think I’ve Been This Slim Since I Was in College’

Kathy Bates is on a career and personal high. The Oscar-winning actress has her first lead role in six years, starring in the episodic series, Matlock. Ironically, she was considering retiring before landing the role. Fans may have noticed Bates’ slimmer frame in the series, and she’s satisfied with her weight loss, telling Variety that it has contributed to her stamina to be able to carry the load of a series. 

“It’s helped me tremendously that, over the last six or seven years, I’ve lost 100 pounds.” she said. “I don’t think I’ve been this slim since I was in college.”

During the time as the lead in NBC’s Harry’s Law in 2011, Bates says she was at her heaviest. “I had to sit down every moment that I could. It was hard for me to walk,” she recalls. “I’m ashamed I let myself get so out of shape, but now I have a tremendous amount of energy.”

Bates’ career hit its peak when she was 42 when she starred in Misery, which she took home the Academy Award for Best Actress in the psychological thriller. At 76, she says ageism is real but hasn’t necessarily impacted her, and that’s because she didn’t have the typical girl-next-door aesthetic like some of her Hollywood counterparts.

“I always knew going into this business that it was going to take me a while because I wasn’t a beauty queen,” she asserted. “I have to say I give an inner wink when I see friends who have been beauty queens who are no longer working because of ageism, and in my case, I’ve been able to continue working for many years because I don’t look like that. I don’t think I would have gotten the role in ‘Misery’ if I had been a beauty queen.”