Catherine Zeta-Jones has hit out at the “horrific” nepo baby label as her two children try to forge careers in the entertainment industry, saying: “These kids didn’t ask to be born into this.”
The 56-year-old Swansea star, whose own journey to Hollywood began on stages in her home city, said Dylan and Carys Douglas were “plugging away” as they attempted to make their own way despite having two Oscar-winning parents.
Dylan, 26, is pursuing acting, while 23-year-old Carys is interested in directing, although her mum revealed her daughter once had a very different ambition.
Zeta-Jones told The Sunday Times: “My daughter wanted to be Amal Clooney for a while. But you have to go with your dreams, your passion.”
She added: “It’s hard for them to forge a way forward on their own.
“This horrific phrase ‘nepo baby’ is horrible because these kids didn’t ask to be born into this, they’re finding their own way in life.
“But they love it, and they’re good.
“Otherwise, Michael and I would be the first to go, ‘You know what? Maybe law school looks really good.’”
Dylan already has his own direct connection with his mother’s home city. He accompanied Catherine and Michael Douglas to Swansea in 2019 when the Hollywood star was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City and County of Swansea, the city’s highest civic honour.
The family appearance was recalled in Swansea Bay News’ coverage of Zeta-Jones and Douglas celebrating 25 years of marriage. Zeta-Jones described receiving the Swansea honour as “a real privilege”.
From Swansea stage to Hollywood
For Zeta-Jones, the route into showbusiness could hardly have been more different from the one now facing her children.
As Swansea Bay News reported earlier this year, she learned her craft with Swansea Amateur Operatic Society as a youngster before leaving her home city to pursue a professional career.
In the new interview, she reflected on the pressure she herself faced as a teenager and the certainty she felt that performing, rather than staying in Swansea to complete her education, was the future she wanted.
“Until I had my own kids, I didn’t realise the pressure, how big that was for a young adult, well, a teenager,” she said.
She added: “I had a sniff of the joy of being in the theatre so young.
“I went, ‘I want to do this. I can’t imagine going through school and A-levels in Swansea.’”
Zeta-Jones landed her breakthrough West End role as a teenager in 42nd Street in 1987 and became a household name in Britain after starring in The Darling Buds of May in 1991.
Hollywood followed, with roles in films including The Mask of Zorro, Entrapment and Traffic, before she won the Academy Award for best supporting actress for Chicago.
She met Michael Douglas at the Deauville Film Festival in France in 1998. The couple married at New York’s Plaza Hotel in 2000 and welcomed Dylan that year, followed by Carys in 2003.
A Swansea homecoming on screen
The interview comes as Zeta-Jones prepares for a particularly Swansea-flavoured moment in her own career.
As we reported earlier this month, she is using her natural Welsh accent in a leading screen role for the first time in new Prime Video thriller Kill Jackie.
Zeta-Jones plays Jackie Price, a retired international drug smuggler turned art dealer who discovers a group of elite assassins known as The Seven Demons has been hired to kill her.
The eight-part series was partly filmed in Swansea, alongside locations in Bilbao, Lisbon and London, bringing Zeta-Jones back to the city where her own performing career began.
Kill Jackie launches on Prime Video on October 2.
For Zeta-Jones, a career that started on Swansea stages is coming full circle just as the next generation of her family tries to find its own place in the same industry.
And while Dylan and Carys may have inherited one of Hollywood’s most recognisable family names, their mother’s message is that the name brings scrutiny as well as opportunity.
Discover more from Swansea Bay News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
