Kathy Bates says it was ‘hard’ to date after playing psychotic villain Annie Wilkes in horror classic Misery

She famously played psychotic villain Annie Wilkes in Misery – not exactly the kind of role that’ll attract romantic prospects.  

And Kathy Bates joked about how difficult it was for her to land a date after she starred in Misery during an appearance at the 2024 Emmys. 

The hilarious remark came as she presented an award with Giancarlo Esposito and Antony Starr, both of whom also played villains on screen. 

During the tribute, Starr said playing a villain can cause ‘downsides once you’re back in the real world.’

In a dead-pan tone, Bates, 76, said: ‘Do you know how hard it was to get a date after Misery?’ 

Misery was a worldwide hit and her performance as chilling killer Annie Wilkes blew critics away. 

The film was released in 1990, just one year before Bates married her now ex-husband Tony Campisi. 

They dated for over a decade prior to tying the knot and ultimately divorced in 1997.

Misery was based on the Stephen King novel of the same name and followed Paul Sheldon (James Caan), a romance author who is rescued by Bates’ character after he gets into a car crash in the mountains.

His self-professed ‘number one fan’ nurses him back to health in her remote cabin, but things take a dangerous turn as she ends up holding him hostage, infamously breaking his ankles with a sledgehammer in one unforgettable scene. 

She won multiple awards for the role – including the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama – and it launched her into massive stardom practically over night.

Last week, however, Bates made headlines after she seemingly revealed plans to retire after her new show Matlock ran its course – but she ended up insisting her retirement remarks were ‘kind of a misunderstanding’ and that she had no plans to cease acting. 

It all began last week during an interview with The New York Times, where she referred to Matlock as her ‘last dance’.

Bates, 76, joked about difficult it was for her to land a date after the film while doing a screen villain tribute with Giancarlo Esposito and Antony Starr at the 2024 Emmys

But while walking the Emmys red carpet, she told ET the retirement remarks were ‘kind of a misunderstanding’.

‘I was very flattered that everybody was upset,’ she said. 

She also told Deadline at the awards show of the retirement she will ‘never’ retire. 

The actress also shared with the outlet that she was considering entering ‘semi-retirement’ until the Matlock project came across her desk.  

Misery was a worldwide hit and her performance as chilling killer Annie Wilkes blew critics away

‘I was thinking about maybe going into semi-retirement until I got Jennie Urman’s script for Matlock,’ she said. 

‘I read it and said “Oh, yeah, baby, I gotta do this. It’s amazing.” It’s not just an episodic, there’s an over-arching mystery that goes through the series. Big twist at the end of the pilot.’ 

Fans can currently catch Kathy star as Madeline Matlock in a gender-flipped reboot of the original Matlock series.