Who’s Who In the New ‘Matlock’ Cast
Meet the new Matlock. CBS has reimagined the classic Andy Griffith series, with Kathy Bates stepping into the title role. In the new version of the show, she plays Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a grieving mother and lawyer who returns to work at a white-shoe law firm with ties to the pharmaceutical companies that manufactured the drugs that killed her daughter.
Bates is clearly the star of the show, but she’s just one part of the new Matlock cast. She’s joined by Beau Bridges, Jason Ritter, and Skye P. Marshall. With the show’s second episode airing Oct. 17 on CBS, let’s review who’s who in the Matlock reboot.
Kathy Bates as Matty Matlock
Oscar-winner Bates plays Matty, who talks her way into a job at the prestigious law firm Jacobson Moore in the series premiere. She tells her new colleagues she’s a struggling widow caring for her 12-year-old grandson alone following the death of her gambling-addicted husband. But that’s a lie. As revealed in the final moments of the premiere, she’s actually a wealthy woman named Madeline Kingston. Her husband is still alive, but she is raising her grandson following her daughter’s death from a drug overdose.
In addition to her star-making role as Annie Wilkes in Misery, Bates is known for movies like Dolores Claiborne and Fried Green Tomatoes and shows like American Horror Story
Beau Bridges as Howard ‘Senior’ Markston
Bridges plays Senior, the managing partner at Jacobson Moore. He’s one of several people at the firm who Matty thinks might be responsible for covering up incriminating information that could have prevented her daughter’s death.
Bridges’ long career in Hollywood includes roles in Goliath, Homeland, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Stargate SG-1, Norma Rae, Gunsmoke, and The Fugitive.
Jason Ritter as Julian Markston
Julian is another lawyer at Jacobson Moore. He’s also Senior’s son. Like his dad, Julian is on Matty’s short list of suspects.
Ritter, who is the son of the late Three’s Company star John Ritter, said that as someone working in the same industry as his dad, he could relate to his Matlock character.
“There was a lot of Julian’s character that I didn’t have to reach too far for. Aside from he has a very contentious relationship with his father, and I loved my dad,” he told the New York Post.
Skye P. Marshall as Olympia Lawrence
Marshall plays Olympia, another one of Matty’s suspects. She’s Matty’s boss, an attorney with Jacobson Moore, and Julian’s ex-wife.
Marshall came to acting after a stint in the Air Force and working in pharmaceutical marketing, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. She’s appeared in Good Sam, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Black Lightning
Leah Lewis as Sarah Franklin
Like Matty, Sarah Franklin – played by Leah Lewis – is a junior associate at Jacobson Moore. The two work together under Olympia.
Prior to Matlock, Lewis played George Fan in the CW’s Nancy Drew and voiced Ember Lumen in Pixar’s Elemental.
David Del Rio as Billy Martinez
Billy Martinez, played by David Del Rio, is another junior associate at Jacobson Moore. He works with Matty and Leah.
Del Rio has appeared in movies and shows such as Pitch Perfect, The Belko Experiment, The Troop, and The Baker and the Beauty.
Matlock airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. Episodes stream on Paramount+.
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