Catherine Zeta-Jones is a Welsh actress. Her first stage appearance was at age nine as one of the orphan girls in a West End production of the musical Annie. She also played the title role in another production of the musical at the Swansea Grand Theatre in 1981. As a teenager, she played roles in the West End productions of Bugsy Malone and The Pajama Game, following which she had her stage breakthrough with the lead role of a chorus girl turned star in a 1987 production of 42nd Street.
The French-Italian fantasy feature 1001 Nights (1990) marked Zeta-Jones' film debut. She gained popularity in Britain with the role of a country girl in the television series The Darling Buds of May (1991–93)the most watched series in the country at that time. However, disillusioned at only being offered roles of the love interest, Zeta-Jones shifted base to Los Angeles. She achieved early success by playing roles that relied significantly on her sex appeal, in the action film The Mask of Zorro (1998) and the caper thriller Entrapment (1999). The former earned her a Saturn Award for Best Actress nomination.
Zeta-Jones' portrayal of a drug lord's wife in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000) gained her a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. She then won an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Velma Kelly in the musical Chicago (2002). As the highest-paid British actresses in Hollywood at the time, she took on the parts of a serial divorcée in Intolerable Cruelty (2003), a flight attendant in The Terminal (2004) and a Europol agent in Ocean's Twelve (2004). A sequel to The Mask of Zorro, entitled The Legend of Zorro (2005), was a failure, following which Zeta-Jones played an ambitious chef in the romantic comedy No Reservations (2007).
Zeta-Jones significantly decreased her workload in the late 2000s. She made her Broadway debut in 2009 with the role of an aging actress in the musical A Little Night Music, which won her the Tony Award for Best Actress. After a three-year absence from the screen, she had three film releases each in 2012 and 2013. None of her releases in 2012 performed well. This changed in 2013, when she played a mysterious psychiatrist in Soderbergh's critically acclaimed thriller Side Effects and a Russian agent in the action film Red 2. After another three-year sabbatical, Zeta-Jones starred in the British film Dad's Army (2016), based on the television sitcom of the same name. In 2017, she returned to television by portraying the actress Olivia de Havilland in the anthology series Feud. She has since appeared in the television series Prodigal Son (2021) and Wednesday (2022).
Screen credits Film
Year Title Role Notes 1990 1001 Nights Scheherazade French language film 1992 Christopher Columbus: The Discovery 1993 Splitting Heirs 1995 Blue Juice Chloe 1996 Sala 1998 1999 Entrapment Theodora 2000 High Fidelity Traffic 2001 America's Sweethearts 2002 Chicago 2003 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Marina (voice) Intolerable Cruelty 2004 Ocean's Twelve 2005 2007 No Reservations Death Defying Acts 2009 Sandy 2012 Lay the Favorite Rock of Ages Playing for Keeps Denise 2013 Broken City Side Effects Red 2 2016 Dad's Army 2026 The Gallerist Marianne Gorman
Television Year Title Role Notes 1991 The Play on One ChirstyEpisode: "Out of the Blue" 1991–1993 The Darling Buds of May Mariette Main role 1992 Maya Episode: "Palestine, October 1917" 1994 Movie Miniseries 1995 Catherine the Great Catherine II Movie 1996 Titanic Miniseries 2017 Feud: Bette and Joan 6 episodes 2018 Cocaine Godmother Movie 2018–2019 Queen America Main role 2021 Prodigal Son 7 episodes (season 2) 2022–present Wednesday Main cast (season 2), guest (season 1) 2022–2023National Treasure: Edge of History Billie Pearce Main cast 2026Kill Jackie Jackie Price Also executive producer
Stage roles Year ProductionRole Theater 1981 Annie Orphan girl Victoria Palace Theatre 1981 Annie Annie Swansea Grand Theatre 1983 Bugsy Malone Tallulah Her Majesty's Theatre 1985–86 Chorus girl Haymarket Theatre, Leicester 1987 42nd Street Theatre Royal, Drury Lane 1989 Street Scene London Coliseum 1992 Under Milk Wood Unknown AIR Studios 2009–10 Walter Kerr Theatre 2017 Girl obsessed with math Carnegie Hall
Awards and nominations
YearAssociationCategoryFilmResult 1999 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Female Newcomer 1999 Saturn Awards Best Actress 1999 MTV Movie Awards Best Breakthrough Performance 1999 MTV Movie Awards Best Fight (shared with Antonio Banderas) 1999 European Film Awards Best Actress – People's Choice Entrapment 2000 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Actress Entrapment/The Haunting 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Actress – Action Entrapment 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Actress – Horror 2001 Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureTraffic 2001 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Supporting Actress – Drama 2001 Chicago Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress 2001 Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress 2002 Empire Awards Best British Actress 2002 Boston Society of Film Critics Best Supporting Actress Chicago 2003 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress 2003 British Academy Film Awards Best Actress in a Supporting Role 2003 Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Acting Ensemble 2003 Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Supporting Actress 2003 Evening Standard British Film Awards Best Actress 2003 Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 2003 Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role 2003 Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress 2003 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 2003 Online Film Critics Society Best Supporting Actress 2005 Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Acting Ensemble Ocean's Twelve 2005 Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year 2006 People's Choice Awards Favorite Female Action Star 2007 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent 2010 Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding Actress in a Musical 2010 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Actress in a Musical 2010 Tony Awards Best Actress in a Musical 2017 National Film Awards UK Global Contribution to Motion Picture — 2019 Women's Image Awards Actress Made For Television Movie / Mini-Series 2021 HCA TV Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Drama Prodigal Son 2023 Astra Creative Arts TV Awards Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Wednesday 2023 Children's and Family Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Preschool, Children's or Young Teen Program National Treasure: Edge of History 2024 Saturn Awards Best Guest Star in a Television Series Wednesday
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