Kathy Bates Jokes It Was ‘Hard’ to ‘Get a Date’ After Her Terrifying Performance in 1990’s Misery

Kathy Bates’ chilling horror performance scared away potential dates.

At the 2024 Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, the Matlock actress, 76, appeared alongside Giancarlo Esposito and Antony Starr to honor screen villains while presenting. During the bit, Bates joked that her 1990 movie Misery impacted her dating life.

“Everybody loves heroes. In drama, they’re called the protagonist,” Bates said onstage. “But without villains, or antagonists, there wouldn’t be much of a story,” added Esposito, known for his Breaking Bad villain Gus Fring.

Starr, who has played The Boys‘ Homelander since the Prime Video series debuted in 2019, said playing well-known villain roles can create “downsides once you’re back in the real world.”

“Do you know how hard it was to get a date after Misery?” Bates joked. “And my American Horror Story was forgetting to thank Ryan Murphy after I won my Emmy.” 

Bates won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1991 for portraying Annie Wilkes in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery. She played a villainous nurse who holds her favorite author (James Caan) hostage and “nurses” him back to health after a car accident.

Offscreen, Bates married her longtime boyfriend Tony Campisi in 1991, and the pair divorced in 1997.

The star recently discussed how her career changed after Misery, telling Variety she “always knew going into this business that it was going to take me a while because I wasn’t a beauty queen.” 

“I have to say I give an inner wink when I see friends who have been beauty queens who are no longer working because of ageism, and in my case, I’ve been able to continue working for many years because I don’t look like that,” she added. “I don’t think I would have gotten the role in Misery if I had been a beauty queen.”

Bates, Esposito and Starr presented the Emmy for best supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie category, which went to Jessica Gunning for her performance in Netflix’s Baby Reindeer.