Kathy Bates Says Meryl Streep Dragged Her to the Bar to Shoot Vodka After They Lost the Oscar to Catherine Zeta-Jones
Kathy Bates recounted an iconic Oscars moment she shared with Meryl Streep after the two lost the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2003.
The “Matlock” star told Jesse Tyler Ferguson on his “Dinner’s On Me” podcast on Tuesday that Streep “sailed by” during a commercial break and dragged her to the bar. The two Academy Award winners lost to “Chicago” star Catherine Zeta-Jones that year.
“It was a very Joan Crawford-Bette Davis moment,” Bates said. “She slammed her evening bag down on the bar and said, ‘I’m having a vodka, straight, neat,’ and I slammed my evening bag down, I said, ‘I’m having what she’s having,’ and we tossed it. It was a moment.”
The actress ultimately remembers the night fondly, but admitted that she really wanted to win for her performance in “About Schmidt.”
“It really was a moment. We turned and toasted each other, and I could see in her eyes and I’m sure she could see in mine how we wanted it so badly,” she recalled. “We thought, ‘Oh, we’re so close.’”
Bates continued saying how much she has admired Streep’s career and even envied the kinds of roles she’s been able to take on. Though the four-time Academy Award nominee has had her own star turns — even winning for her leading performance in “Misery” in 1990 — the actress said she’s struggled with comparison.
Speaking with Ferguson, the “Primary Colors” actress almost blurted out a story about a dream she once had about Streep.
“I remember in this dream I was in a tub, empty … Meryl was outside the tub and I was looking up at her and I had had a stroke and I said, ‘You win,’” she shared. “Because I think up until that moment I was comparing myself to her and then when I realized, No way, Jose, could I have done these roles.”
Now at 76-years-old, Bates has not slowed down. The actress stars in the reimagined CBS legal drama “Matlock” as the titular character. She told the “Modern Family” star that this gig feels beyond her wildest dreams.
“I’ve been counseled by my PR lady not to say it’s the best experience that I’ve had. But I can’t help it,” she quipped.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s “Dinner’s On Me” is available to stream on all major podcast platforms.
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