‘Prodigal Son’ Welcomes Catherine Zeta-Jones to Its ‘Dark, Dark’ Family Drama — Watch

Ben Travers
·2 min read
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Not everyone would eagerly hope to be welcomed into a family of killers, but then again, not everyone is Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The Academy Award winning actress joins the cast of “Prodigal Son” during the midseason finale, which airs Tuesday, March 2 on Fox, and Zeta-Jones spoke to reporters early Tuesday afternoon about her love of the part, the series, and its odd little family.

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“I was a fan of the show,” Zeta-Jones said during the series’ TCA presentation. “What’s so different and powerful about ‘Prodigal Son’ is that it’s a family drama with a twist of danger. It’s a dark, dark family, and I gravitate toward darker material.”

Zeta-Jones will play Dr. Vivian Capshaw, the resident M.D. at Claremont Psychiatric Hospital where Dr. Marin Whitly (played by Michael Sheen) is currently residing. Dr. Whitly is an incarcerated serial killer known as “The Surgeon,” as well as the Whitly family patriarch; father of Malcolm (Tom Payne), a criminal profiler with a special talent for understanding serial killers; ex-husband to Jessica (Bellamy Young), a successful businesswoman who suffers from alcoholism after discovering what her then-hubby did in his free time; and father once more to Ainsley (Halston Sage), an intrepid reporter who joined the family business in the Season 1 finale.

“It takes a great actor to play a serial killer you actually like,” Zeta-Jones said of her fellow Welsh co-star Sheen. “There’s something intriguing about the fundamental family, which we all can relate to, and it lends itself to bringing in a serial killer you actually like. […] That was one of the attractions of this show: You like these people. […] Every family can relate.”

During the panel, Zeta-Jones was joined by Payne, Sage, Young, as well as fellow cast members Aurora Perrineau, Frank Harts, and Keiko Agena. Executive producers Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver were also on hand, as well as co-star and director of the midseason finale, Lou Diamond Phillips.

“I didn’t know it was going to be the midseason finale, and I didn’t know who my guest stars were going to be,” Phillips said of preparing to step behind the camera and learning he’d be directing Zeta-Jones. “The script began as something brilliant with beautiful storylines […] but it just became this overwhelming wealth of riches for me.”

Alan Cumming also guests in upcoming episodes, and fans can take a look at what’s in store via the new trailer released Tuesday. Check it out below:

“Prodigal Son” airs new episodes Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox.

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