Overview

• In a Vanity Fair interview, Bates revealed that Garry Marshall declined to cast her in the 1991 film Frankie and Johnny because he couldn’t envision her as a believable romantic lead.
• She originally created the role of Frankie in the 1987 Off-Broadway production Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune alongside F. Murray Abraham.
• The movie part ultimately went to Michelle Pfeiffer, who starred opposite Al Pacino in Marshall’s adaptation of Terrence McNally’s play.
• Bates recounted enduring appearance-based typecasting throughout her career, including childhood comments from her father and a journalist questioning her on-screen chemistry with co-star Aidan Quinn.
• Her standing ovation at this year’s Critics Choice Awards for Matlock represents, she says, a long-overdue moment of career validation and resilience.