CATHERINE ON BOND WITH WELSH 'BROTHER'

Michael & I are same age, from same bit of Wales and have the same friends... but we’d never met until last year

- MATT ROPER

Hollywood may be the world capital when it comes to gossip, but it is usually about which celebrities are having affairs, babies, meltdowns or getting divorced.

But when Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Sheen met for the first time, the pair turned that on its head by swapping stories about all the old pals they both know from back in South Wales.

The pair grew up in the same corner of the country, have mutual friends and their parents know one another – but they had never come across each other until last year while filming American crime drama Prodigal Son.

Catherine says: “We spent a lot of time going, ‘Did you hear about… Jones?’ ‘No, how is she?’ ‘She’s got two kids’ ‘Never.’”

The two actors had plenty to catch up on and quickly made up for lost time – leaving the rest of the cast and crew in New York baffled as they gossiped about friends, discussed rugby and told old school jokes in their Welsh accents.

Catherine, 51, says: “We are literally like brother and sister from different parents, we’re that close.

“I don’t know why [we never met before]. My parents know Michael Sheen’s parents, Michael Sheen has met my parents. Half my friends are Michael Sheen’s friends but never the twain had crossed.

“We’re the same age, don’t tell anyone. Where we come from is like a pimple on the map of the world. I could throw my ball to the end of the village.

“Talk about connected by blood and country and culture. When they’d say, ‘cut’ we’d go into the strongest Welsh accent that we ever have. We’d like revert back to when we were in school, telling silly jokes.