Actor Catherine Zeta-Jones says she based her performance in the new series Kill Jackie on people she knows in Wales. The Mumbles star plays Jackie Price, a former cocaine dealer who is being targeted by hitmen, in a new series for Prime. It is the first time she has played a role using her Swansea accent and the first time she has filmed a drama in Wales.
"I played on people I know in Wales, people who are comedic and the accent makes it funny and real and true, but the character comes from a tough side of Swansea, which we do have as well," she said. The series is based on a book called The Price You Pay, set in the US, and the central character is a man called Jack. Zeta-Jones said they "flipped it" for her to be a woman with all the quirkiness and craziness that Jack had in the book.
She said: "I told my creative team, I want to play her Welsh. And they went OK." "For many reasons. One, I've never played real Welsh Swansea ever, never shot in Wales and I think it would ground me in her character and add nuances that I would know," she told Lucy Owen on BBC Radio Wales.
"I'm so glad I did it because she's such a great character and I just wanted her to be Welsh." Zeta-Jones, also an executive producer on the series, said she had an idea for one scene to use a song by Welsh singing legend Tom Jones, and have him help save the day. She said: "Jackie has installed this high-tech security system behind these Andy Warhol style prints of Tom Jones. They lift up and out come very dangerous machine-guns that do the bad guys in." "That was my contribution to the scene." Catherine said she did not know if Jones realised he had such a crucial role and said she needed to text him to tell him about it.
"I think because I'm playing such a badass, I think he's going to love that we used his song in that particular moment in the show," she said. Zeta-Jones has been praised by fans for using her Welsh accent in the thriller, which begins on 2 October. One fan said they loved hearing the "queen of Wales sounding Welsh".
She has previously spoken about her strong connection to Wales, adding in her heart she "never really left". One fan commented on an Instagram post of the trailer, saying: "Her Welsh is out and I love it, can't wait". Speaking on BBC Woman's Hour, Zeta-Jones said she "could not believe" how many of her fans noticed the use of her accent and that it had made her "very happy".
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