Kathy Bates says this past Emmy Awards The red carpet event was particularly meaningful for her.

The 76-year-old Oscar winner opened up about her seven-year weight loss journey in a recent interview with People – and the emotions that came with it. Bates stepped out at the 2024 awards show last month in a purple Armani dress and described the joyful experience she had shopping for the dress with her friend. “We were in tears because everything I showed up in just looked exquisite,” she told the outlet in October.

The American horror story The actress said she felt comfortable posing for the cameras at the star-studded event. “The pictures on the red carpet were so different from any pictures I had ever taken on a red carpet,” she noted.

“I just felt so relaxed and ready,” Bates explained. “I knew I felt great and looked great.”

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Bates reported that she was able to lose 80 pounds through diet and lifestyle changes and then lost another 20 pounds with the help of the drug Ozempic. “There was a lot of talk about how I could only do this because of Ozempic,” she said. “But I have to make it clear to people out there that this has been hard work for me, especially during the pandemic. It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough.”

Bates also recently cleared up any concerns about her quitting acting. “I think people were confused and thought I was retiring,” she said People on Wednesday, October 9, while discussing the success of her new CBS series, Matlock. “What I meant was: How can it get any better? I would love for this to continue.”

However, she admitted that in the past she had become increasingly frustrated by the limited roles available to women her age. “I remember calling my agents and saying, ‘I think I might want to retire, if not retire, at least semi-retire.’ “If I can’t afford to keep my house, I’ll sell it and maybe go to New York,” she remembers. “Then this happened. I couldn’t believe it.”

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The actress made headlines last month when she appeared to allude to it Matlock was her last project: storytelling The New York Times“This is my last dance.” Bates had plans to quit acting after a film shoot left her “upset” by the experience, but Matlock changed her mind.

“Everything I’ve prayed for, everything I’ve worked for, everything I’ve fought for, I can suddenly ask to use all of it,” she added at the time. “And it’s tiring.”