Kathy Bates Explains Why Director Didn't Cast Her In 'Romantic' Role

Kathy Bates says Hollywood didn’t always know what to do with her early in her career.

Though the Oscar winner has given us countless moments of joy and occasional jolts of terror, she told Variety earlier this week that the late director Gary Marshall didn’t exactly see her appeal when casting for the 1991 film adaptation of Frankie And Johnny In The Clair De Lune, despite her acclaimed performance in the 1987 off-Broadway production.

“He couldn’t make the leap that people would see me onscreen kissing someone,” Kathy told the outlet. “Me actually kissing a man onscreen — that would not be romantic.”

Even after her award-winning performance in the 1990 horror film Misery, Kathy revealed, the offers didn’t exactly pour in.

“It was like a desert,” she said, describing a drought of substantial roles. 

Kathy also said that after leaving her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, she learned that her own father had echoed the same sentiments she’d heard in Hollywood. 

“You know, she’s not conventionally attractive,” the Titanic star recalled him saying to one of her acting teachers.

kathy persisted despite the discouraging feedback and carved out a career that has captivated audiences since the 1970s. Now that she has such a rich and enduring legacy in place, fans have recently speculated whether the actor might be considering retirement.

But during a March appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, the American Horror Story alum put those rumours to rest. 

“I’m not going to retire,” she insisted. Her main reasoning? She’s having too much fun filming her latest project, the reboot of Matlock.