Kathy Bates Is Shocked After Realizing She Did, in Fact, Thank Her Mom in Oscars Speech: 'What a Relief'

Kathy Bates just had an incredible realization about her 1991 Academy Awards speech.

Bates, who won Best Actress that year for her starring role in the 1990 thriller Misery, recently sat down for an interview with Ben Mankiewicz for CBS Sunday Morning.

During their chat, the actress, 76, claimed that she "forgot to thank" her mother Bertye Bates in her Oscars acceptance speech. After her win, Bates recalled her mom, who later died in 1997, telling her, " 'I don’t know what all the excitement is about; you didn’t discover the cure for cancer.' "

But when Mankiewicz had Bates watch her speech back, she came to the surprising realization that she did, in fact, thank her mother.

"I’d like to thank my family, my friends. My mom at home, my dad, who I hope is watching somewhere," Bates was seen saying onstage at the show.

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Watching the footage, Bates grew visibly emotional, placing a hand over her mouth before telling Mankiewicz, 57, "Thank you! Why did I think I didn’t thank her? What a relief."

After the host asked why it meant so much to Bates to know she thanked her mother, the Matlock actress replied, " 'Cause she should’ve had my life."

“When she died, I said, 'Come into me,' " Bates continued. “I wanted her spirit to come into me. Even though we had so many difficulties, I wanted her spirit to come into me and enjoy everything I was enjoying because of what she'd given up."

"Wow. Thank you so much for that," she told Mankiewicz.

Bates began acting in the 1970s and built a significant career onstage before gaining attention on the big screen. She is perhaps best known for her Oscar-winning role as the villainous Annie Wilkes in Misery opposite the late James Caan, adapted from the Stephen King book of the same name.

Back in July, the actress opened up during the TCA Press Tour about how she handled criticisms and attention her career as a younger actress garnered, before she found success.

"When I was younger, I guess I would get my feelings really hurt," Bates said. "Sometimes I’d get on a plane and fly home."

She went on to recall in part, how someone around that time said to her of learning to handle criticism better, " 'You gotta have a head like a bullet and a heart like a baby.' "

"So that’s what I've tried to do. But sometimes I take it too far and I can be like a bull in a China shop," Bates added.