NEED TO KNOW
Kathy Bates says Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall wouldn’t cast her as romantic lead in 1991’s Frankie and JohnnyBates had originated the role in a stage production; the movie part went to Michelle PfeifferThe Oscar winner has previously opened up about losing parts because of her appearance
Kathy Bates says late director Garry Marshall refused to cast her in a movie because he felt she wouldn’t be convincing as a romantic lead.
The Oscar winner said in a Vanity Fair interview published Tuesday, May 27 that Marshall would not cast her in the 1991 movie Frankie and Johnny, despite Bates having originated the role in 1987 opposite F. Murray Abraham in Off-Broadway’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune.
“He couldn’t make the leap that people would see me onscreen kissing someone. Me actually kissing a man onscreen — that would not be romantic,” Bates, 76, told the outlet. (Marshall died in 2016 at age 81.)
The part instead went to Michelle Pfeiffer, who starred opposite Al Pacino.
Kathy Bates on Dec. 8, 1991.
Vinnie Zuffante/Getty
In the Vanity Fair article, Bates remembered taking a flight when she came across a magazine featuring Pfeiffer promoting the film.
“I wanted to get on a plane. They said, ‘Actually, Ms. Bates, there’s one leaving right now.’ I said, ‘Great. Get me on it.’ I got on Virgin Air. Sat down. Picked up a magazine. It’s about Frankie and Johnny,” she recalled.
Bates and Pfeiffer, 67, went on to star in two movies together, both released in 2009: Personal Effects and Chéri.
Garry Marshall, Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino at a “Frankie and Johnny” press conference on Sept. 28, 1991.
Bei/Shutterstock
Elsewhere in the wide-ranging interview, Bates said she “never felt that I belonged” in Hollywood, “but that’s okay.” The Matlock star said not relying on conventional beauty standards helped sustain her long career.
“I see them sail away in their gowns…. So now? It’s sweet revenge. Oh, Miss Beauty Queen, you had a career up until your 40s and you can’t work? Too bad!” she told Vanity Fair, adding, “I’ll think, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t say this; oh, you shouldn’t say that.’ But then I say, ‘F— it — I’m 76. Can’t I just say it?’ ”
Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino in “Frankie and Johnny” (1991).
Paramount/Getty
The PEOPLE App is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!
Back in January 1991, Bates told The New York Times about losing parts because of her looks.
“I’m not a stunning woman. I never was an ingenue; I’ve always just been a character actor,” she said at the time. “When I was younger it was a real problem, because I was never pretty enough for the roles that other young women were being cast in. The roles I was lucky enough to get were real stretches for me: usually a character who was older, or a little weird, or whatever.”
She added, “It was hard, not just for the lack of work but because you have to face up to how people are looking at you. And you think, ‘Well, y’know, I’m a real person.’ “
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings