NEW YORK – Catherine Zeta-Jones may not have a memoir like her husband Michael Douglas, but she can still spin up a personal story or two.
The Academy Award-winning actress currently stars as Jackie Price in the AMC+ series "Kill Jackie," (new episodes Fridays) adapted from the Nick Harkaway novel "The Price You Pay." In the first episode, Price evades a murder attempt and unleashes an ambushing of her own, all scored to the 1965 classic "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones.
The song choice wasn't a coincidence. Both the actress and singer are from Wales in the UK, and Zeta-Jones is also an executive producer on the series. And as Jones dished on "The Voice UK" in 2012, Zeta-Jones asked for his song "What's New Pussycat?" to play in the delivery room
as she gave birth to her first child with Douglas, son Dylan.
Looking back on the experience of giving birth, Zeta-Jones admits she "didn't know what was in store for me" but she tried to cover all of her bases.
"We had the doula, we had the midwife, we had the doctor, we had the person who was going to give me something to ease the pain," Zeta-Jones, 57, tells USA TODAY. "It was like this caravan of people. Michael was there timing the contractions. My bag was packed for like, six months before the baby was born."
As the preparations continued, the midwife and doula suggested that Zeta-Jones choose "something soothing" to listen to during labor. Zeta-Jones was having none of it and chose "Pussycat," which played as she delivered the baby.
"I adore Tom Jones," she continues. "You can't imagine that those vocal chords have been hard at work all his life, not just when he became the international recording artist. It's a phenomenon. And he happens to be one of the most charming men in the world."
Catherine Zeta-Jones finds familiar territory in 'Kill Jackie'
"Kill Jackie" finds Price, a current art dealer and former drug dealer, on the run from "The Seven Demons," a group of hitmen tasked with murdering her. Price confronts her past as she attempts to take down The Demons, one-by-one.
Zeta-Jones says she doesn't see herself in Jackie despite her character also hailing from Wales. Jackie doesn't have much of a filter as she fights for her life, usually leading to moments of levity during the eight-episode thriller series.
"I've been pre-programed to have a serious filter as women usually are," Zeta-Jones says. "But as I mature, like a fine cheese does, I have the ability through maturity to be able to actually really say what I'm thinking."
Zeta-Jones doesn't use the "fine wine" analogy because she enjoys cheese more. But where she does find familiarity with Jackie is her sketchy past. Zeta-Jones notes that this is her third time playing a character associated with drug trafficking. Past projects where she's dealt in the underworld include the 2000 film "Traffic" and the 2017 drama "Cocaine Grandmother."
"My agent said, 'What is it with you and those dubious people?'" she recalls. "The difference with my character Jackie is that she's getting out of it. She still had both her kneecaps. But now, 20 years after that, my history may be catching up with me. And so that's where we start our story."
Zeta-Jones jokingly clarifies that in real life, she is not associated with any of "those people" that deal in such fields. But she understands why the stories translate well to TV and film.
"I equate it to our fascination with the mafia," she says. "I can watch 'The Sopranos' over and over again. I can watch every Scorsese movie that's about the mafia. There's something about that underworld, that dark, dirty, little dangerous world that I find just interesting."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Catherine Zeta-Jones' new show has unique tie to birth of her, Michael Douglas' son
