Catherine Zeta-Jones is finding liberation in growing older.
In an interview with InStyle, the Oscar-winning actress, 53, opened up about her excitement for her next chapter, not taking anyone’s s*** and the perils of pigeonholing.
“Something about getting older was that I don’t take a lot of s*** from people,” she said. “Not that I’m snappy, or that I’m looking for s*** from people. I just don’t take it, and I don’t take it in a very gracious way. And it’s only something that comes from experience and it’s only something that comes from being 53. But I really feel now that there’s a different chapter ahead of me, and it’s exciting to see what happens next. My dreams have come true, and everything else now is a bonus for me.”
She also went on to explain that shortly after having her children, she discovered a renowned sense of agency that allotted her the confidence to only select roles she truly wanted. Jones has been married to her husband, Michael Douglas, for 22 years, and they share two children: 22-year-old Dylan and 19-year-old Carys.
“I just felt it was right for me to go, ‘OK, I can take a breath now. I don’t have to be on all the time now,'” she said. “By this point, I had two little creatures to look after. I wouldn’t change a thing, but I think after the body of work that I’ve done before, I feel like I can be — not selective — but [take on] whatever tickles my fancy. And it’s a wonderful position to be in as an actor.”
That isn’t to say she doesn’t come up against Hollywood’s compartmentalization problem.
“They’re like, ‘Oh, women — they’re really good at that, but she’s probably a terrible mother, and is she ever home?’ It’s like, no, we are multifaceted,” said Jones, who plays Morticia Addams in Netflix’s Wednesday series.
She also opened up about the secret to relationship longevity, speaking to the importance of picking your battles and deflecting the pressures of “relationship goals.”
“I think it’s more about not thinking, for one, that we are on a pedestal in which people go, ‘Oh, that’s perfect,’ because nothing is perfect — ever, ever, ever, ever,” Jones said. “But what we do have is a very respectful relationship, in that first of all, we’re not consumed by each other’s careers, and we have interests and friends that are not solely in our business.”
Of maintaining a decades-long marriage, she thinks it’s best to “let it out when it needs to come out, and shut up when you need to shut up,’ is what I say.”
“It’s a long journey. Pick your battles,” Jones explained.
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