Yahoo Lifestyle Leah Lewis Talks Whether Sarah Can Bring Matty Down on Tonight's 'Matlock' Episode (Exclusive)
Even though Matty Matlock (Kathy Bates) is the heroine of CBS’ hit Matlock series, not everything she does in the search for the person who buried a memo on the dangers of opioids is on the up-and-up. In fact, it's sometimes mentioned that if she gets caught, she could go to jail. But Matty has ingratiated herself to the staff of the Jacobson Moore law firm.
The sole exception is Sarah Yang (Leah Lewis). The first-year associate has had a problem with Matty since the first day that the new hire moved into the office that she shared with Billy Martinez (David Del Rio).
“I think right away Sarah hid behind making comments about Matty’s age, which I guess in the world that Sarah lives in, that’s a really easy jab,” Leah Lewis told Parade in an exclusive interview. “It’s a very cheap jab. But what’s really going on under there, I think, is this disappointment or this shock and disbelief that Sarah spent her whole life leading up to this moment, trying to get Olympia’s attention, trying to vie for that validation. And then this 'older lady,' or 'Perry Mason,' as Sarah says in the pilot, just breezes in and somehow wins Olympia and the firm’s heart.”
For Sarah, who has been very driven her entire life and focused all her energy on building a career, Matty is a threat who breezes in and, in a very short amount of time, has achieved what Sarah has worked for years to accomplish.
“Sarah’s like, ‘There’s no way that this is a way to do things.' Because she’s only known one way for so long,” Lewis continues. "And it’s funny because you look at Sarah and Matty, and obviously, we’re two different people. But for Sarah, it was very like, ‘Okay, now that this person is here getting such easy access. That must mean now I’m bopped to even lower on the totem pole.’”
That becomes even more clear to Sarah when, on tonight’s episode, “A Traitor in Thine Own House," Matty takes an action that she finds hurtful career-wise. She doesn't realize that Matty only did it to save her own skin and to distract Billy from one of her nefarious searches for info on the opioid case. As a result, Sarah vows to bring Matty down. But can she really be the one to do that?
Related: Matlock Star Kathy Bates on Ageism, Her Acting Addiction and Being Invisible
“You know what? I think that Sarah has the research and abilities to be able to do that, or to try to," Lewis explains. "But it is a little harder for Sarah just because she hasn’t built relationships up yet in a way that people really would listen to her and take that so very, very seriously. It’s interesting, because of all the people who could debunk Matlock, I feel like Sarah–wink, wink–would be the one to really find it out, because she’s so determined to take this woman down.”
Check out Parade's interview with Leah Lewis, where she gets into what drives Sarah, how the two women are similar, Sarah’s relationships with Billy and girlfriend Kira (Piper Curda) and Lewis’ real-life love of singing.
Related: Jason Ritter Explains How His Matlock Role Parallels His Real-Life Marriage (Exclusive)
How would you describe Sarah?
Sarah, to me, is someone who is incredibly intelligent, she’s very driven and she knows exactly what she wants. I think while all of those are incredibly great qualities, while she’s also a hard worker and incredibly determined, it’s rare that we get to see women on screen really embody the "this-is-what-I-want-right-away" attitude. But, those good qualities, I think part of Sarah’s arc and balance is learning how to find the middle of what that looks like in a healthy way for her.
Because, in all the determination and the hard work and her one-track mindset to hopefully become a partner one day, she loses a bit of humanity and doesn’t really gauge how things come out of her mouth. She didn’t really care, I think, in the beginning, and I think in a way a lot of her journey in Season 1 has been her learning how to be human.
As a lawyer, you come up with the facts; you lay everything out. It’s kind of this chess game of what the facts are and finding different ways to get one over on the opponent. But then there’s also this incredibly human aspect to it that is very emotional, and it’s very understanding of the human condition. You see Olympia bringing into all of her cases; you see Matty bring that right away. But I don’t think Sarah really knows how to do that. She has been spending her whole life just focusing her eyes on the prize versus the people around her or the relationships that it also takes to build that career or that rapport.
But even with all of her strength and the whole front she puts up, she strikes me also as a little bit needy.
Oh, my gosh. I feel that because she only focuses on work, she doesn’t really understand that part of herself. She does need validation, she does want to be seen, she does want to be loved. But I think in her head, she sees it as, "No, it’s just for work." But she is needy. I think in a really cute but kind of annoying at times way. When you see her interacting with Billy, she’s so slow to say, “Yes, we are close friends, and I need you.” It’s obvious she is very detached. But even the moment you see Billy stand up for himself and be like, “Enough is enough,” then she’s like, “Oh wait, I actually have something to lose here,” you know?
We learn that Sarah’s adopted, as are you. Is that something that they took from your real life? Because when you tell Matty that your grandmother looked like her, she’s as surprised as we were, I think.
I did have a chat with the writers, and they did know that I was adopted. And the incredible writer of this episode, Lizzie Perrin, she is also adopted. And so she had infused a lot of her real-life experiences into this episode. And it was funny because before she and I had really chatted about it, those are some of the things that I say as well. Like when people ask me, “Oh, are those your real parents?” Sometimes in the past, I have found myself–much nicer than Sarah, I think–spouting off the details. Because there are very common questions that people ask. Because not many people really know about adoption or the nuances and just how the process is. Maybe don’t ask someone, “Are those your real parents?”
Related: Why NCIS: Los Angeles Alum Eric Christian Olsen Has Given Up Acting—for Now
Is that the only way that you resemble Sarah in that you’re both adopted? Are there other aspects of you that they pulled into your character?
I think with Sarah–and this is one of the first times that I’ve really been able to do something like this–the writers have really played on some of my personal humor. My personal humor doesn’t really involve saying the thing that everyone’s thinking in the room but shouldn’t be saying; that’s more of Sarah’s thing. But I think how quirky and wild she is, like with her expressions and she’s up here, and then she’s down here, and then she’s like, "la la la la la." I can definitely be like that.
I think the writers definitely pick up on the way we move as humans and the cadence of our speech. I definitely have had moments where I’m like, “Wow, I am like Sarah.” And just the human aspects of her coming into her own adulthood, coming into her own agency and her own authority and really looking at what that looks like. Just like Sarah, I also deal with the insecurities of wanting to be seen, loved, and validated. They might not be as extreme as hers, but I definitely relate to a lot of the feelings that she’s had.
I will say this, and let’s put this on record, I love people over the age of 60, I have no ageism in me. I actually came from, I think you would say, an older side of parenthood. My parents are a bit older. So, I actually did find it really funny that my character is so anti-this and then has to learn the lesson of value in that.
This episode is the second time they’ve had you sing on the show. Is that your happy place? Is that why they put it in?
Singing was an equal passion with acting. And not just singing, [but also] writing music. I write my own music, and I’ve been waiting for the right time to gather an EP together and release it. But that was something that the writers, especially Jennie Urman, our incredible showrunner and head writer, was very adamant about putting in. And I even wondered, too, I was like, “How is this going to happen? Are we going to have an office karaoke night?”
So, Kira has other hangs, and Sarah doesn’t. If Sarah finally gets up the guts to say to Kira, “Hey, I want to be exclusive,” can she walk away from Kira, do you think, if Kira doesn’t want to do that?
I think with Sarah it’s funny. She’s so good at asking for what she wants. But then, when it comes down to romance, she’s fumbling like a little girl. I’m sure you saw in the last episodes where I don’t know how to talk to Kira. I think that as Sarah starts to grow, I do think that her self-worth is growing through all of the trials that she experiences by being told “No,” and by being told, “You do need to level up,” by Matty, by Olympia, by Billy. So I would hope that by the time it’s time for her to ask for exclusivity, she might have more strength in herself to understand that this isn’t really going where she wants it to. She’s a smart girl, you know? But I think in a lot of departments, she’s very juvenile because it’s her first time experiencing these things.
Related: Kathy Bates Mouths NSFW Word in Epic Reaction to 2025 Critics Choice Win
Billy and Sarah, they’re like yin and yang. He’s so completely different than her, and yet they have this relationship where he has accepted her foibles. But then when he broke up with his girlfriend, it’s like he finally got stronger. How is Sarah reacting to the changes in Billy?
There’s always going to be a side of Sarah that’s like, “What about me?” I think for her, in theory, she wants Billy to get stronger. She actually loves Billy. She has spent so much time with him, watching him and encouraging him. But I think what’s funny is she encourages Billy to take a stand, and then he does, and it’s against her. And I think it’s a really big lesson on unconditional love. You want the plant to grow, but then it’s growing so big, and you’re like, “Oh, my God, I don’t know what to do with it. And now Billy’s telling me no?”
I think that’s Sarah having to learn how to love someone. You encourage them to be the best version that they can be, and then when they are, accepting that and accepting those boundaries. So, I think she’s really happy for Billy, but can get frustrated because part of him getting stronger is saying no to her.
You’ve talked about how great the writers have been developing your character, is there something special you would like to see for her going forward?
I would really love to see Sarah be a sniper, but in a healthy way. I think she has all of this energy. She has all of this intelligent research and this myriad of knowledge. But she’s been using it in a one-track mind versus where it can probably really, really benefit her. I’d love to see all of these qualities used in the right way in Season 2 and see what she can become.
Matlock airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Streams next day on Paramount+.
