Words matter. These are the best Kathy Bates Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
I regret not taking my 83-year-old mother to the Oscars the year I won. She deserved the Oscar for giving up so much for me.
I want to be defined by my own essence.
It matters to me, acting. It’s what I do. It’s what I’ve given up a lot to do. It’s my life source. And I guess I’m too serious about it sometimes, but I want to treat it right.
I’ve been in the business for so long that I don’t sit home and look at my awards.
I try to always stretch myself to fit the characters that have been presented.
When I first went to interview for ‘Misery,’ they were saying things like, ‘You’re not Michelle Pfeiffer, you know.’ And I just don’t get the relevance of that remark. I’m not Elizabeth Taylor, either. I’m not Sean Connery.
Cancer and its aftermath changed my outlook in a profound way. I’ve become less of a hermit, and I travel more.
When Aretha Franklin came on the radio when I was in college, we would stop the car, throw open the doors, jump out, and dance.
It was also wonderful to have the prospect of playing with Jack Nicholson. It was a terrific part, a terrific script, with Alexander Payne and Jack Nicholson. You can’t get any better than that!
After winning the Oscar, I was committed to do ‘Fried Green Tomatoes,’ but I didn’t know what the next thing would be after that. It was a scary time. But the advantage of TV is the regular work. All you need is a hit series, I guess.
I’m very lucky to be able to do what I love to do, and I hope I can keep doing it for a while.
For a long time I did not want to do television because I did not want to get stuck playing the same person. I wanted the ongoing challenge of a variety of roles.
My mother used to tell this corny story about how the doctor smacked me on the behind when I was born and I thought it was applause, and I have been looking for it ever since.
I didn’t go out on one date in high school.
One of my favorite films is ‘Psycho,’ which I saw when I was 12.
I haven’t talked much about being an ovarian cancer survivor because I don’t really want to define myself that way.
I went from years of honing my craft to sudden recognition. It was quite a life changer.
I really just love to work, and I don’t care if it’s TV or movies.
I’m not a stunning woman.
I hope I look skinnier in 3D. I hope I don’t look three times as fat. That’ll be disappointing.
And people are always saying: ‘Well, you go to Hollywood and you get yourself a film career or a TV series, and then you can do anything you want. Because then you’ve got the clout.’ That had always sounded like a lot of hooey to me, but now I think it’s true, unfortunately.
I look for a role that hopefully I feel empathy with and that I can understand and love, but also that has that challenge for me to play – a different kind of role, a different type of character, a different time period.
I used to play guitar years ago. It brought me a lot of pleasure when I was a teenager growing up and was having tough times.
The Oscar changed everything. Better salary, working with better people, better projects, more exposure, less privacy.
Every time an Oscar is given out, an agent gets his wings.
My mother used to ask, ‘Why do you always write such sad songs?’ I don’t know if I was different from a lot of adolescents in that respect.
I have always had a problem with my weight.
I kind of grew up on horror.
‘Misery’ left a lasting mark on me. When I die, it will be ‘Kathy ‘Misery’ Bates Is Dead.’
I have really focused on mindfulness. That helps me make better choices both physically, psychologically, and emotionally.
The roles I was lucky enough to get were real stretches for me: usually a character who was older, or a little weird, or whatever. And it was hard, not just for the lack of work but because you have to face up to how people are looking at you.
When I met President Obama, all I could say was ‘wow’ – twice. What an idiot.
I love ‘Homeland.’
I have to pay the bills just like everybody else, but it also pays my soul to work.
I’m not that conservative. I do feel – I guess I’m more of a Democrat at heart, although I’ve never affiliated myself with a particular party.
I got my SAG card quite unexpectedly. I was here in Los Angeles doing a play called ‘Vanities’ – it was 1976, I believe – and I got invited by Dustin Hoffman, whom I’d met in New York, to come audition for a movie he was directing.
Alexander Payne’s very specific. His scripts are always complete when you start working on them.
People will come up, and they’ll talk about ‘Misery.’ But a lot of people will talk about ‘Waterboy.’
What I love about ‘The Office’ is the fast pace and the zaniness of those characters.
My deeply secret favorite movie is ‘Meet Joe Black.’
I have had periods of depression in my life.
I think that being in an environment is a much richer experience than just working on a soundstage.
Drama comes more naturally to me. It’s the comedy you really have to delve into.
I’ve heard of actors like De Niro and Streep who stay in character all day long. And Daniel Day-Lewis did it for ‘My Left Foot.’ I don’t do that myself.