Kathy Bates Finds Peace, With ‘Disjointed’ and Some Herbal Medicine

Back in 2012, Kathy Bates lit up a cigar, spat out some salty zingers and won an Emmy for her guest role as the ghost of Charlie Harper in “Two and a Half Men,” the CBS sitcom cocreated by Chuck Lorre.

Now she’s lighting up again — only this time it’s reefer — as Ruth Whitefeather Feldman, the owner of a Southern California medical marijuana dispensary in “Disjointed,” Mr. Lorre’s new Netflix comedy, starting Friday, Aug. 25.

Created with David Javerbaum, a former late-night writer for Jon Stewart and James Corden, “Disjointed” pits Ruth’s tie-dyed activism against the business acumen of her son, Travis (Aaron Moten), a newly minted M.B.A. whose father is a Black Panther turned corporate lawyer for Big Pharma. Ruth wants to rail against the Man; Travis wants to grow their shop into the Walmart of cannabis.

Why would an Oscar-winning actress with four seasons of Ryan Murphy’s FX anthology “American Horror Story” on her résumé jump a prestige ship for a streaming sitcom? “David is so talented and Chuck has an amazing track record, so I decided to roll the dice with them,” Ms. Bates, 69, said in a call from Los Angeles. “I’m not stabbing or slicing anybody up. But there’s an intensity being in front of a live audience again that’s so much fun.” These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Read more at the New York Times.