Kathy Bates Talks Emotional Emmy Dress Fitting After Weight Loss

Kathy Bates says this past Emmy Awards red carpet event was extra meaningful to her.

The Oscar winner, 76, recently spoke about her seven-year weight loss journey in an interview with People — and the emotions that came with it. Bates stepped out for the 2024 awards show last month in a purple Armani gown, and described the joyful experience she had while shopping for the dress with her friend. “We were in tears because everything I came out in just looked exquisite,” she told the outlet in October.

The American Horror Story actress said that she felt comfortable posing in front of the cameras at the star-studded event. “The pictures on the red carpet were so different from any pictures I’d ever had taken on a red carpet,” she noted.

“I just felt so relaxed and ready,” explained Bates. “I knew I felt great, and I looked great.”

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Bates relayed that she was able to lose 80 pounds through diet and lifestyle changes, and then lost another 20 with the help of the drug Ozempic. “There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic,” she said. “But I have to impress upon people out there that this was hard work for me, especially during the pandemic. It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough.”

Bates also recently cleared up any ideas that she was quitting acting. “I think people got confused and thought I was going to retire,” she told People on Wednesday, October 9, while discussing the success of her new CBS series, Matlock. “What I meant was, how can it get any better? I would love for this to keep going.”

However, she did admit to growing frustrated in the past due to the limited roles available to women her age. “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,’” she recalled. “Then this happened. I couldn’t believe it.”

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The actress made headlines last month when she seemed to allude that Matlock was her final project, telling The New York Times, “This is my last dance.” Bates had plans to move on from acting after a movie shoot “soured” her on the experience, but Matlock changed her mind.

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