Catherine Zeta-Jones based Kill Jackie role on people she knows in Wales

Kill Jackie marks a major first for Catherine Zeta-Jones

The actress stars in Prime Video’s Kill Jackie as Jackie Price, a former cocaine dealer whose past catches up with her when a group of assassins is sent after her.

The series also marks Zeta-Jones’ first drama filmed in Wales, making the decision to give Jackie a strong Welsh identity particularly personal.

She had a very specific idea for how Jackie should be portrayed. The character was originally written as an American man called Jack in the novel The Price You Pay, but Zeta-Jones pushed for the production to transform the role into a Welsh woman.

She had a very specific vision for her Welsh character

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales, she explained that her portrayal was partly inspired by people from Swansea she knows personally.

She wanted Jackie to have the humour and character she associates with people back home, while still showing the tougher side of the city.

“I told my creative team, I want to play her Welsh,” Zeta-Jones said.

As well as starring in the thriller, Zeta-Jones is one of its producers and helped develop some of its more unusual touches.

One scene features Jackie concealing a collection of guns behind Andy Warhol-style prints of Tom Jones, accompanied by one of the singer’s songs.

Zeta-Jones admitted she has no idea whether Tom Jones is aware of his unexpected appearance in the series yet, joking that she may have to tell him herself.