Kathy Bates says work feels ‘magnificent’ after losing 100 lbs

(CNN) — Kathy Bates is feeling great these days.

The “Matlock” star spoke with People magazine about her current projects and how her weight loss has changed her experiences on set.

“When I was so heavy in ‘Harry’s Law,’ I had to sit down in between every take, and it was awful,” she said, referring to her 2011 drama series. “I’m ashamed to have put myself through that, to be honest.”

Bates added: “But now that I’ve been able to get really healthy, I can move, I can breathe, I can have fun, I’m not sore.”

“I get tired and realize I’m like an old lady, but even the kids get tired,” she said. “But it’s been a magnificent experience.”

Bates, 76, said she “never expected to have this at my age, at the end of my career.”

The actress has lost 100 pounds over several years. She told the publication in a separate interview that she changed her lifestyle after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

“[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I’d seen what my father had gone through,” she said. “He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight.”

Bates, who is also a cancer survivor, said she initially lost 80 pounds through diet and exercise and an additional 20 pounds with after starting a GLP-1 medication.

She said her improved health “coincided beautifully” with the timing of her new gig, a reboot of “Matlock.”

“Physically, I’m capable of doing this show,” she said. “I don’t have to sit down. I can stand up all day long and walk and move and breathe and do so many things that I couldn’t before.”

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