Catherine Zeta-Jones feels the love as Morticia
The juggle is real. Leading lady Catherine Zeta-Jones is an Oscar winner, Tony winner and occasionally harried mother.
Yes, her daughter Carys Douglas, 22, just graduated from Brown, but there are still those familiar moments.
“I’ve never had a contentious relationship with my daughter, but I did give her side eye the other day,” the 55-year-old Zeta-Jones acknowledges. “She said, ‘Don’t Morticia me, Mom!’ It’s a wonderful new line kids can say to their mothers now! Don’t Morticia me, baby!’ ”
The good-natured star of “Wednesday” wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s relishing playing somewhat creepy and kooky matriarch Morticia Addams in the latest chapter of the Addams Family saga and their biting and brilliant daughter, Wednesday (Jenna Ortega). The first chunk of Season 2 dropped this week on Netflix, with four additional episodes due to arrive Sept. 3.
The new season is heavier on horror for director Tim Burton. Wednesday must deal with a supernatural mystery at school, plus new twists with her family. “There are some very dark family secrets that might have deadly consequences,” Zeta-Jones hints. “This is definitely a family that loves each other, but there are issues.”
Fred Armisen joins the cast as oddball Uncle Fester. Other new faces include Steve Buscemi, Joanna Lumley and Christopher Lloyd. Lady Gaga is also on board as an infamous Nevermore teacher who clashes with Wednesday.
Zeta-Jones — known for movies including “The Mask of Zorro” and “Chicago” — is currently filming “Kill Jackie,” an action revenge thriller for Prime. She lives in New York with her husband, actor Michael Douglas, and their grown children, Dylan and Carys.
Her good life advice:
You have to ask
Zeta-Jones embraced her weird parent role so much during Season 1 of “Wednesday” that she and actor Luis Guzmán, who plays husband Gomez, went to the producers with a special ask. “Me and Luis were like, ‘Can we do more?’ The answer was yes. … You have to ask in life, and I was so thrilled to hear yes, because Morticia is also such an iconic character,” she says. “I love her nuances, strength and emotions. I love the physicality and comedic side as well. I’m so humbly blessed to be a part of this world.”
Feel the love
When it comes to Morticia, the actress says she embraced “her vulnerability, her emotions and her fraught moments with her teen TV daughter. … Wednesday can see her mother as a bit of a pain at times, but Morticia just wants the best for her daughter … and deep down Wednesday feels that love.”
Is this a lesson on how to deal with teens? “I think what works for the Addams family is that they encourage differences and nurture the quirkiness.”
Do your own thing
“I never saw ‘Chicago,’ before we shot the film. When I started it, at that point, I was like, ‘Why see it now?’ ” Zeta-Jones shares. “It’s a different thing with Morticia. She was so embedded in my self-consciousness. When Tim Burton called, I said, ‘When do I turn up? When do I start?’ ”
Embrace longevity
She grew up in the small seaside town of Swansea, Wales, as the daughter of a candy factory owner and a seamstress. “I started in theater at 9 years old, and I’ve worked ever since my childhood,” Zeta-Jones says. “I’m very proud of my career, but it changes over the years. The good part of being at this stage is that I can pick and choose more. I don’t have to keep at it just to be at it. … I can take jobs that I will enjoy. This feels like a wonderful renaissance. Age brings this new chapter where everything feels like a bonus.”
Loving kind
She says her long union with Douglas works because they love each other and are kind to each other. “We meet so many different people in life, and sometimes we spend more time being nice and friendly to complete strangers than we do to the person you love more than anything else in the world,” she says. “Just have kindness on your mind. … Through thick and thin, I really lucked out. He’s my best friend. A very special person.”
