Is Kathy Bates retiring from acting? Here's what to know

Bates recently announced that CBS's "Matlock" reboot will be her "last dance," but the truth may be more complicated.

Could this be the end of an acting legend's career?

Kathy Bates recently called her new starring role on CBS' Matlock reboot her "last dance," telling the New York Times she had planned on retiring after a movie shoot went south. "It becomes my life,” she said of her dedication to her characters and the grind to get projects off the ground. "Sometimes I get jealous of having this talent. Because I can’t hold it back, and I just want my life.”

She told her agents she wanted to retire after the unnamed movie role fell through, but showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman's Matlock scripts were strong enough to keep Bates, 76, soldiering on. At least for now. "This is my last dance," she said.

Does that mean she's retiring?

Related: Kathy Bates on battling the 'abject terror' of leading the new Matlock

"Personally I don’t think that is the going to be the case," a rep for Bates said when reached for comment by Entertainment Weekly. "She wants Matlock to go on for many many years."

It's possible for both to be true: that Matlock goes on for many years and proves to be Bates' final role. CBS has a strong track record for series longevity as home to four of the top 10 longest-running primetime scripted series of all time (Criminal Minds, Lassie, Gunsmoke, and NCIS). And Matlock offers the actress a unique experience to exorcise some career demons.

“Everything I’ve prayed for, worked for, clawed my way up for, I am suddenly able to be asked to use all of it,” Bates told the NYT. “And it’s exhausting.”

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Bates described acting as "the only thing I’ve had, ever.” The actor has amassed over 200 credits to her name, including an Oscar-winning turn in the Stephen King adaptation Misery, Emmy-winning appearances in American Horror Story and Two and a Half Men, and dozens of other highly acclaimed performances in films and series like Fried Green Tomatoes and Six Feet Under.

She recently described Urman's new vision of Matlock to EW as "like nothing I've ever experienced, really. It's been a long time since I did network television, and the hallmark of this experience for me is the passion, the joy, the level of the craft that Jennie brings to each script, the intricacy, the cleverness, and the vibe on set. Everybody's excited, and you can just feel it."

Related: Kathy Bates reveals she got her 'feelings really hurt' early in her career: 'I’d get on a plane and fly home'

"I really did a lot of digging deep in my own personal life," she continued, "my own background, my own growing up, and all of the experiences that I've had personally, but also all of the things I've learned about the craft for the last 50 years. That's another joy that's been part of this, is that I'm able to use everything that I was taught and I've taught myself."

Urman previously created, executive produced, and co-wrote Jane The Virgin, whose style of lively dialogue and brisk pacing show up again here to imbue her new project with a momentum that sets it apart from most contemporary legal procedurals.

Matlock debuts on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ on Sept. 22.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.