NEW YORK, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Kathy Bates says she was inspired by, but not trying to impersonate, TV personalities Jerry Springer and Oprah Winfrey in her movie, "Little Black Book."
The Oscar-winning actress plays a daytime TV talk-show hostess in her new film, which is in theaters now.
"I thought of Oprah and Jerry," Bates said in New York recently. "I don't think I went out to imitate them. ... The way the guests (behave) and the types of things that go on on the show are more 'Jerry Springer'-like and I look at (my character) like a woman who had a more austere career and is now into this kind of nether-world, trying to go for the ratings."
Bates said she thinks her character also bares some resemblance to Sally Jessy Raphael, a TV personality who changed her show many times to appeal to changing demographics.
"I worked with Sally on a movie called 'Unconditional Love,'" Bates told UPI. "So, maybe some of that rubbed off on me. Seeing her really kind of up close, you know, kind of working it."
