Catherine Zeta-Jones stars in the new crime series Kill Jackie, now available on Amazon Prime. The 56-year-old Swansea-born actress plays Jackie Price, an extravagant globe-trotter trying to stay under the radar after escaping a "dangerous past as an international cocaine dealer".
Throughout her career, Zeta-Jones has typically adopted an American accent or various British accents for her characters, known for roles in The Mask of Zorro, Chicago, and the Netflix series Wednesday, where she portrays Morticia Addams.
First Welsh accent role
Kill Jackie marks the first occasion she has used her Welsh accent in a television or film role, and the first time she has ever filmed in her hometown of Swansea. The series is based on the book The Price You Pay by Nick Harkaway, following Jackie Price as she lives a lavish but low-profile life before a deadly twist when The Seven Demons, a group of the world's most feared assassins, are contracted to kill her.
In the book, Jackie is not meant to be Welsh, but Zeta-Jones suggested her character use her native accent. She said: "In the book, the story is set in America, but that was changed for the series, I said to Peter Lawson [executive producer] and our writers, 'I want to play her Welsh'."
Filming in Swansea
She added: "There are many reasons why that was a big deal for me. Firstly, I've never, in the whole of my career, played a Welsh woman with a Welsh accent. I've never actually filmed anything in Wales. I've been all over the world and never actually filmed anything in my country!"
Episode five of the series is filmed across the Welsh city and features a tribute to Bonnie Tyler at the end. Zeta-Jones said: "For me, filming not just in my home country but my hometown was very special. It was great to go back to Swansea, back to streets that I remember."
She continued: "The first thing I did was go to Johnnies, my favourite fish and chip shop, and Joe's Ice Cream – their Welsh classic vanilla is phenomenal and I highly recommend people head to Swansea for them! We filmed very close to where I went to dancing school and where my grandmother was brought up, nearby to where my auntie went to church – my childhood was all in this area."
A poignant homecoming
Zeta-Jones described the local reception: "People know me there and the people who lived in the street where we filmed were very sweet – they were very quiet while we were shooting but then said, 'Hiya Cath'. They're proud of me there, genuinely proud of me and it makes my heart soar. I have a very special place in my heart for Wales and the Welsh people."
She concluded: "The most poignant moment for me was walking down the streets of Swansea, not just as Jackie, but as me. Going home to a place that I love, doing what I love to do. That was very, very special."
