It was in 1970, when Kathy Bates went to New York to pursue a career in acting. When she talked about the past, “I was never an ingenue,” Bates said. “I’ve always just been a character actor. When I was younger, it was a real problem, because I was never pretty enough. It was hard, not just for the lack of work, but because you have to face up to how people are looking at you,” the actress added.
Bates started her career in 1980, after she appeared in “Come Back To The Five And Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.”
But she received her breakthrough when she was 42, through her psychotic fan role in “Misery.” She received best actress Academy Award with her role.
“You’re either young and glamorous and you’re going to get the lead, or it’s the opposite: you’re not attractive enough. So you’re playing the friend or the killer or the lesbian or the doctor or whatever,” Bates shared.
“But the one who gets to play the young, pretty, gets-the-boy-at-the-end role doesn’t have any power. And vice-versa: a character can have power, but not femininity.”
She was diagnosed with cancer twice in her life. In 2003, the actress was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and in 2012, with breast cancer.
After her breast cancer surgery, Bates talked about her lymphedema diagnosis. As time passed, she became the spokesperson of the Lymphatic Education & Research Network.
Bates is wearing compression sleeves to not swell her arms up. “If I can stop rushing, relax my shoulders, straighten my spine, breathe deeply, and focus on each little moment of completing a task, I have more confidence in my ability to live with LE. The pandemic forced me to slow down.”
“Going out in public wearing a compression garment, especially when people aren’t educated about LE, can sometimes be more painful than the disease itself. However, hiding at home and living a sedentary life will only make things worse for your body and brain.”
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