Oscar winner Kathy Bates looks unrecognisable

Actress Kathy Bates arrives at the 23rd Annual ELLE Women In Hollywood Awards. Photo / Getty

Misery actress Kathy Bates has stepped out looking like a new woman.

The 70-year-winner has lost about 30 kilograms, telling Us Weekly that her niece helped her lose the weight with some simple advice.

Kathy Bates attends the 2019 WebMD Health Hero Awards on January 15, 2019 in New York City. Photo / Getty

"My niece told me this little, secret, I guess it's no secret, it's a biological thing, that at some point when you're eating, you have this involuntary sigh and that's really your brain and your stomach communicating that you've had enough," she said.

"The trick is to pay attention to that and push your plate away. It took a few years. I would say you have to be really patient … I don't like the word willpower, but I like the word determination."

Bates, who won and Oscar for her frightening turn as Annie Wilkes, is also debuting a new raven, pixie-cut.

Kathy Bates attends the 2018 IDA Documentary Awards on December 8, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Photo / Getty

The actress, who battled ovarian and breast cancer in 2003 and 2012 respectively, says she wishes she had turned her health around years ago.

"I have never been in such good health. I just had a physical. I'm doing great … I feel like a completely different person. I can move, I can walk. I just wish I had done it years ago," she said.