Kathy Bates Says Ryan Murphy Rejuvenated Her Career After ‘Degrading’ Pause: ‘Felt Kind of Humiliated’

Kathy Bates thought her career might be over before meeting Ryan Murphy.

During the Tuesday, January 14, episode of the “Dinner’s On Me” podcast, Bates, 76, said the executive producer “rejuvenated” her career after he cast her in his FX anthology series American Horror Story.

“Right before he gave me the opportunity to do the show, I had breast cancer and [my show] Harry’s Law had been cancelled rather unpleasantly,” Bates told host Jesse Tyler Ferguson. “When that summer happened, it was degrading.”

Bates recalled feeling “kind of humiliated” at the time, adding, “I felt like I had let my cast down and had never been through an experience like that. And then breast cancer, which does run in my family, so I wasn’t surprised.”

The actress wasn’t sure whether she would book more roles before Murphy, 59, came along.

“But, it was more painful than I thought it was going to be,” she noted. “And I really felt like this is my career over.”

Bates appeared on season 3 of American Horror Story as Delphine LaLaurie before returningfor three more installments of the anthology series. She last appeared in season 8 as Miriam Mead and she has since struck gold with CBS reboot of Matlock.

“I remember calling my agents and saying, ‘I think maybe I want to go into, if not retirement, semi-retirement. If I can’t afford to keep my house, I’ll sell it and maybe go to New York,’” Bates told People in October 2024 about hitting a lull. “Then this happened. I couldn’t believe it.”

Despite fan concerns that Matlock would be her final project, Bates denied that she was done with acting.

“I think people got confused and thought I was going to retire,” she added at the time. “What I meant was, how can it get any better? I would love for this to keep going.”

Bates currently plays Madeline “Matty” Matlock on the hit CBS series, which premiered in September 2024 to critical acclaim. Despite sharing the same last name as the iconic Matlock from the ’80s, Matty was introduced as a former lawyer hoping to get hired at a prestigious law firm after falling on hard times.

It was later revealed, however, that it was all an act. Matty is actually the wealthy Madeline Kingston, who went undercover at the firm to track down who is responsible for her daughter’s death. The current suspects on Matty’s list include Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), Julian (Jason Ritter) and Senior (Beau Bridges) — all of whom could have had access to documents that would have taken opioids off the streets before her daughter died from an overdose.

“Certainly, I think that there’s a level of guilt, which is in the deep marrow of Matty. The fact that she feels tremendously guilty that she failed her child, and was unable to win the battle between the drugs and her child’s future, no matter what she did,” Bates told Entertainment Weekly after the premiere. “And also the level of, she’s been grieving for 10 years and I think she spent the last couple of years with her grandson Alfie cooking up this plan and using their wits. And I think all of that level of excitement and joy of working with him and finding that he was very passionate about bringing those people to justice that killed his mother.”