Catherine Zeta-Jones’ biggest acting regret is never getting to play a female James Bond.

The Oscar-winner, 53, said former 007 star Sean Connery backed her as a replacement for him as the spy after they became close filming the 1999 crime caper ‘Entrapment’ together.

She told The Sun on Sunday (18.12.22): “I would have loved to have played Bond. I had such a wonderful relationship with Sean Connery – we did a movie called ‘Entrapment’ years ago – and he was like my elder brother, my dad, my support.

“I really loved him. I am a Bond fanatic and he said to me once, ‘You would have made a great Bond, girl’. I asked, ‘A Bond girl or Bond?’

“He went, ‘Bond – girl’. I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I would have loved to have played Bond!’ But I think that time has passed.”

Despite recent calls for the first female Bond, the film franchise’s producer Barbara Broccoli, 62, has insisted the role will remain played by a man.

Catherine, who shares son Dylan, 22, and daughter Carys, 19, with her husband of 22 years Michael Douglas, 78, is now on screens playing Morticia in the new Netflix TV series ‘Wednesday’ in a reboot of ‘The Addams Family’.

Focusing on the teenage issues of Wednesday, Morticia’s only child and shot by ‘Batman’ director Tim Burton, the actress said about joining the cast, which features Jenna Ortega in the title role: “It was a real treat because it’s an iconic show and characters like Fester and Morticia are indelible, they’re in our subconscious.

“It’s more than pop culture, really. My niece knows ‘The Addams Family’ and my grandmother, God bless her, she loved ‘The Addams Family’.

“You throw in the brilliant mind of Tim Burton and a fantastic casting and I’m just thrilled it’s going so well.”