Catherine Jones was born September 25, 1969 in Swansea, Wales. She is the middle child in a family of three children. Her father is Welsh and her mother is Irish. She was raised Irish Roman Catholic as a child, which was her mother's religion. She attended Dumbarton House School and was an average student. She left school early to pursue an acting career. She took her stage name Zeta, from a ship that her great grandfather had sailed on called the Zeta Jones.

She started young in her acting ambitions and would frequently put on shows for her family and friends. In 1987 she starred in 42nd Street as Peggy Sawyer in a local production of the show. After the show closed she went to France and landed a lead role in 1001 Nights which was her feature film debut. Her American break into motion pictures came with her role in Zorro in 1998, and Entrapment in 1999. She also stared in The Haunting, Traffic, High Fidelity and America's Sweethearts with Julia Roberts and John Cusack. She later went on to win an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in Chicago in 2003. This win provoked some controversy at the time.

She married actor Michael Douglas in 2000. She is both the spokesperson for T-Mobile and Elizabeth Arden cosmetics. She is very generous to her family and built her parents an expensive seashore home in Wales. She has been hailed as one of the most beautiful woman in the world. Along with her role in Zorro, her exotic good looks are often mistaken for Spanish, but she is not Hispanic.