WATCH: Catherine Zeta-Jones: ‘I’m Ready to Return to Work’

Catherine Zeta-Jones is ready to get back to work again after spending several months away from acting while husband Michael Douglas was receiving treatment for throat cancer.

The actress told me, “My career has been completely on hold since Michael has been sick, so I couldn’t make any plans.” She’s now looking at what projects might be available.

Zeta-Jones thinks she might do a cameo in a low-budget independent movie. She would also like to get back to the theater: “I would like to do Broadway again. I had a great time, and winning the Tony was a huge bonus.”

Michael Douglas was diagnosed with throat cancer last year — in January he announced the tumor had gone.

Although the couple both appeared in the movie Traffic together they never shared a scene. She’d certainly like to star opposite him in a film role. She joked:  “I’d love to as long as I’m not his wife. I’ll be the person trying to kill him like Kathleen Turner in War of The Roses!”

The actress was speaking to me at a special Welsh gala dinner where she was receiving an award for her achievements in the performing arts by the St. David’s Society of the State of New York.

Zeta-Jones is fiercely proud of her Welsh heritage. She recalls how she got an early taste of Hollywood when her grandmother went to see Liz Taylor and Richard Burton when they made a visit to Wales.

Patriotism has been her theme in recent days. Not only has she received the St. David’s Society Bronze Medal but she was also made a CBE by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace last month.

I asked her if she’d been transformed by the honor, which is officially titled Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

She laughingly replied: “No, I’m still as obnoxious as ever.”

Tom Brook‘s reports on cinema can be seen every Tuesday and Thursday morning on BBC America.