Entertainment

In No Reservations, Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a highly regarded chef who does her best to run her kitchen smoothly and meet the high standards she has for the food she prepares. But when your real life consists of being a glamorous actress who is married into one of Hollywood's royal families, there's little doubt you've spent more time on the other side of those doors with the round windows.

New York Daily News

Catherine Zeta Jones (with No Reservations co-star Aaron Eckhart)

In a recent phone conversation, the 37-year-old Welsh actress talked about how she prepared to wear that chef's apron and what life has been like since winning the best supporting actress Oscar in 2003.

You seemed like you really knew your way around a kitchen in the movie. How did you prepare?

I'd be the first one to say that cooking wasn't one of my fortes before I did the movie, but I had an extremely intensive course at a restaurant called Fiamma in New York City. I started off very basically – just learning where everything is in the kitchen – and observing how they move so gracefully around with all the chaos. It's like a theater piece back there ... And before I knew it, I was right there in the mix of it, sweating up a storm, cooking up a storm. Then just before I started doing the movie they put me out on the floor as a waitress just to show how to serve properly and how to talk lyrically about the ingredients in the dish, and I had so much fun. It was terrifying at first. I thought, "For sure I'm going to have a finger cut off at some point." But I was unscathed, and I've actually learned to love cooking.

Really? What's your favorite thing to make at home?

I like to make risotto, even though it takes way too much time. You have to watch over it.

You've been on about a movie-per-year schedule. Has that been a conscious decision?

Yes, because my life and my family – I try to squeeze in movies when they have some break off school, whether it be spring or in the summer. ... I did a movie with Gillian Armstrong and Guy Pearce (Death Defying Acts) in the summer during summer break over in London, so [husband] Michael [Douglas] and the children were with me, and we rented a house and that worked out really great. But it's tricky – I can't just pack a case like I used to be able to do and just fly off to Romania for three months at the drop of a hat.

How has your career changed since you won the Oscar for Chicago ?

I think the highlight of a career is winning an Oscar, but I don't think ... my life has changed. I had one child before, now I have two. Also, it allows you to be able to pick and choose a bit.

It seems like you've starred in just about every movie genre. Is there a type of movie you haven't made that you would like to?

I'd like to delve into more comedy, I think. I'm not a comedienne by nature – I can't even pull off a joke properly if you asked me to – but I love working with comic writers and actors.

Do you think you'd ever want to do another musical?

I'd love to do another musical. It's a part of my life and it's been a big part of my career ... If the right one came about; I wouldn't want to just do one because I won an Oscar for one before.

Do you ever still walk around the house humming any of those songs from Chicago?

No, but I find it really weird when I go into stores and I hear it playing over the loudspeaker. I kind of look around and be as inconspicuous as I possibly can be. I usually get away with it.

Would you like to act in another movie with your husband?

I would love to. If he wasn't my husband, I certainly would love to do that. You know, it's hard for married couples – it's hard for people to break through the reality of them being married couples and sometimes it looks like a voyeur is looking through the keyhole of something.

We are setting up something where I would not be romantically linked to him – he would be a villain. We're just working on that script now and until a script comes in and we both feel that it's right, we're not going to go through that.

Your production company is also producing a movie in Wales. What made you want to get into the producing side of things?

Well, my husband being an Oscar-winning producer, he just told me, "Sometimes the material you want to do is not either available or it's not being developed by the studios or the directors. And if you feel passionate about something you have to go out and find it and work it through by yourself with a staff of smart people."

It's a very small company – we're not doing any blockbusters or anything like that. But we're slowly making our way, and it's a good thing to keep me off the streets when I'm not on-screen.