Catherine Zeta-Jones is one of the most radiant actresses Hollywood has seen over the past three decades. The Welsh actress made her feature film debut in 1990 via Les 1001 nuits, a French-Italian adventure film from director Philippe de Broca. Over the past 30 years, Zeta-Jones has amassed more than 40 big and small screen credits and won an Oscar for her stellar performance in the 2002 musical Chicago.
Last week, news broke that Zeta-Jones will join the cast of Fox's crime drama Prodigal Son during season 2. Until then, have a look at the best and worst films of Zeta-Jones' career to date.
According to IMDb, Zeta-Jones suffered a sophomore slump upon making her second feature film. Despite joining an A-list ensemble, Christopher Columbus: The Discovery was not a smooth-sailing endeavor.
Co-starring Marlon Brando, Tom Selleck, and Benicio Del Toro, the movie traces the exploration of the West Indies by Christopher Columbus and the constant negotiations he made with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
Zeta-Jones' second time working with British director Stephen Frears (Lay the Favorite) was nowhere near as successful as her first (High Fidelity). Adapted from the Beth Raymer memoir, the film follows an exclusive stripper named Beth (Rebecca Hall) who moves to Las Vegas to become a cocktail waitress.
Upon arriving in Sin City, Beth begins flirting with Dink (Bruce Willis), a successful gambler. However, Dink's eccentric wife Tulip (Zeta-Jones) takes serious issues with Beth's encroachment.
Although Zeta-Jones has managed to avoid participating in a DC or MCU movie thus far, she did a small-scale superhero movie called The Phantom in 1996.
Billy Zane stars as Kit Walker, AKA The Phantom, a superhero who comes from a long lineage of African crime fighters. Upon venturing to New York City to prevent an evil mastermind from obtaining a trio of mystical skulls that grant unlimited power, The Phantom runs into one harrowing obstacle after another. Zeta-Jones plays Sala, a femme-fatale and air pirate rescued by The Phantom.
Jan de Bont's remake of Robert Wise's classic 1963 horror film The Haunting features a stellar cast with not a whole lot to do. Based on the Shirley Jackson novel The Haunting of Hill House, the film traces a trio of medical subjects trapped in a haunted house.
Paranormal scientist Dr. David Marrow (Liam Neeson) invites three insomniacs to stay in a dark old mansion so he can study their sleep habits. However, Dr. Marrow is really there to determine whether or not supernatural entities are present. Zeta-Jones plays Dorothea, one of the houseguests who agrees to undergo the study.
Before there was Blue Crush there was Blue Juice, a mid-90s surfing movie starring Zeta-Jones and Ewan McGregor. The story concerns J.C. (Sean Pertwee), a hotshot surfer in England at a crossroads with his girlfriend Chloe as his twenties come to an end.
When J.C.'s closest pals arrive in town, he is forced to reexamine his lot in life. With one of his friends set to get married, J.C. and the others throw one last epic rager before adulthood comes crashing down.
Just as Steven Soderbergh's Contagion was a precautionary tale about a global pandemic such as COVID-19, so too is his 2013 movie Side Effects about the overdependence of chemical medicine.
The film centers on Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara), a young woman whose life disintegrates after being prescribed a pharmacological substance by her shrink (Zeta-Jones). As her mind-state becomes blurrier and more unstable, Emily can't control the devastating side effects and the lasting impact it has on her and her loved ones.
Catherine Zeta-Jones won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her breathtaking turn in Rob Marshall's musical adaptation of Chicago. It remains her only nomination to date.
The jazzy musical focuses on rival criminal singers, Velma (Zeta-Jones) and Roxie (Renee Zellweger) attempting to woo a sleazy defense attorney (Richard Gere) to represent them in the court of law. The film won six Oscars in total, including Best Picture.
Starring opposite Tom Hanks, Zeta-Jones gives one of her most kindhearted turns as flight attendant Amelia Warren in the 2004 film The Terminal.
The film is loosely based on the true story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, a man who spent 18 years living in Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Hanks plays Viktor Navorski, a Russian immigrant who lives by his wits while stuck in an airport terminal indefinitely. Thanks to the friendly faces like Amelia he meets, Viktor's stay is quite pleasant.
In the splendid adaptation of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, Zeta-Jones plays Charlie, the gorgeous ex-girlfriend of record store owner Rob Gordon (John Cusack) who he learns is far more vapid than he remembers.
After breaking up with his recent partner Laura (Iben Hjejle), Rob delves into his past and reminisces over his Top 5 ex-girlfriends to learn what went wrong with his most recent romance. His quest brings him face to face with Charlie, who he realizes is way more materialistic than he recalled.
According to IMDb, the best movie Catherine Zeta-Jones has starred in thus far in her career is Traffic, the sprawling drug-war drama from director Steven Soderbergh. The film won four Oscars, including Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, and Supporting Actor for Benicio Del Toro.
The film ties several parallel narratives together as seen through the context of the U.S./Mexican drug war. Zeta-Jones plays Helena Ayala, the pregnant wife of Mexican drug kingpin Carl (Steven Bauer) whose lavish life is threatened by a criminal informant.
