Catherine Zeta-Jones, the acclaimed actress who transitioned from winning Oscars to shining on Broadway, recently shared a surprising anecdote.
Despite her tender age of 19 at the time, she was rejected for a role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production “Aspects of Love” due to being perceived as too old.
Hailing from Swansea and now a mother of two at 40, Zeta-Jones is basking in the praise for her performance in “A Little Night Music” at New York’s Walter Kerr Theatre.
In a recent interview amidst her busy schedule, she reminisced about her audition for the ingenue role in Lloyd Webber’s musical.
Following her success as the lead in “42nd Street,” where she stepped in after both the main actress and her understudy fell ill, Zeta-Jones faced disappointment when Lloyd Webber and director Trevor Nunn rejected her outright.
Recounting the encounter, she revealed Nunn’s feedback: “Trevor mentioned I was slightly too old and too pretty for the part.
Even though I was barely 20, I tried to convince him otherwise to no avail.”
During her conversation with the Toronto Star, Zeta-Jones detailed how she received the offer to star in “A Little Night Music” while relaxing at a driving range in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, a property owned by her and her husband Michael Douglas among their various residences in Mumbles, Majorca, New York, and Bermuda.
After requesting some time to contemplate the opportunity, Zeta-Jones found herself pleasantly surprised when Stephen Sondheim, the composer of the score, personally expressed his desire for her involvement in the project.
Reflecting on her early days performing in musicals like “Annie” and “Bugsy Malone,” she remarked, “As a teenager, I fantasized about receiving calls from iconic figures like them, and here it was, unfolding in reality.”
Elaine Penn, the showbusiness editor at TV Quick magazine, weighed in on the situation, highlighting the irony of Zeta-Jones being deemed too old at 19.
She pointed out that Andrew Lloyd Webber himself, known for critiquing young talents on shows like the BBC’s “I’d Do Anything,” had previously advised aspiring actresses in their teens that they were too young and might have better prospects once they turned 20.
Penn commended Zeta-Jones for proving her mettle on stage, suggesting that Lloyd Webber may now be reconsidering his past remarks given her undeniable talent.
