The 76-year-old actress will retire from acting following the CBS reboot of Matlock, which will premiere on September 22 and later be released on Paramount+.
Bates intended to retire earlier, revealing that a film shoot had soured for her late last year.
“It becomes my life,” she told the New York Times. “Sometimes I get jealous of having this talent. Because I can’t hold it back, and I just want my life.”
She decided to take on one more acting gig after her agents sent her the script for Matlock in January 2024.
“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 said of the legal drama series. “And it’s exhausting.”
“This is my last dance.”
