The protean and nonpareil actress Kathy Bates, whose gift for nuance in her work has earned her admiration from all quarters over the last thirty to forty years, displayed her penchant for truth-telling once again in an interview with The Guardian, in which she stated her thoughts regarding the #MeToo movement, saying, “In my day, if you went up to a guy’s hotel room, you knew exactly why you were going and in those days it was consensual.”
Bates was commenting on how the film industry has changed over the years when she made that statement, but she also noted that she approved of women coming forward to confront their abusers as she said, “About people like Weinstein and the casting couch and all of that, I have a confession. In my day, if you went up to a guy’s hotel room, you knew exactly why you were going and in those days it was consensual. Times were different, but I really support the women who are coming forward now and I’m not happy about the men who are being accused falsely – but the ones who deserve all they’re getting, my feeling is hey, go for it.”
Bates has been nominated for her fourth Academy Award for her luminous performance in Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell” as Jewell’s mother Bobi. She won for Best Actress for “Misery” in 1990.
The Guardian wrote, “Bates’ Bobi is all nerves and near-hysteria, absorbing every blow like a woman on the verge of collapse. But her final speech, the true emotional climax of the movie, burns with a righteous fury, even as the tears fill her eyes. Eastwood needed an actor of commanding stature to deliver weakness, then rage, then fragile strength, and Bates has deservedly earned the lion’s share of the movie’s acclaim.” – READ MORE