Over the years, Catherine Zeta-Jones made her mark in Hollywood with a number of blockbuster hits and accolades, but she is now shifting her focus to smaller productions.
"I can't talk about it right now, but I am doing a little indie picture, and I'm really excited about that, because I've never been part of that indie world," she said, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
"I want to turn up. I want to do some interesting work. It goes back to my theater thinking, because I don't feel I have to prove anything to anybody. I don't have to work hard for other people."
Born and raised in Swansea, Wales, Zeta-Jones got an early start in show business, finding passion in singing, dancing, and performing.
At just 10 years old, she won a national talent contest before launching a career in theatre in London's "West End" productions of the musicals "Annie" and "Bugsy Malone."
"I started very young too in the theater. I'm certainly not a young chick. I've been in the industry for a very long time and I've loved every minute of it," she recalled.
With her past experience, Zeta-Jones not only believes she is prepared for the shift to indie films but has completed the winning race of her dreams.
"It's interesting because I'm starting to get what I always desired as a younger actor, which are some indie movie proposals," she said.
"I've never done the indie film route, so I'm really excited about that because it's a collaboration which is not an actor for hire. Everyone is just thrown into this very short, tight schedule and budget, usually, and we're all bringing our A-game to it."
Like many other Hollywood stars, her journey was filled with ups and downs, admitting she got to this point after being turned down multiple time in auditions.
In 1991, she rose to television prominence when landing a role in the UK comedy "The Darling Buds of May," and was eventually recognized by acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg during her role on a CBS project about the Titanic.
"Lesson to actors. If you don't think you're doing the role you should be getting, just do it, because you never know Steven Spielberg is watching," Zeta-Jones told festival attendees.
She took a step back from film-making citing a lack of inspiring scripts, with the last role she had being "Cocaine Godmother" in 2017.
With 40 total award nominations and 19 wins, Zeta-Jones received a Tony award for her critically acclaimed performance in "A Little Night Music." She starred in the hit 2022 Netflix series "Wednesday" as Morticia Addams, which will have its second season streaming mid-next year.
She has been married to actor Michael Douglas since 2000, and have two children together; son Dylan, 24, and daughter Carys, 21.