Catherine Zeta-Jones ‘Thriving’ as Empty Nester with Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas is embracing life as an empty nester after all!

In 2021, the actor and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones lived alone for the first time in years after their daughter Carys, now 22, graduated from high school and got ready to attend Brown University.

“It’s scary. It really is,” Douglas, 80, said on the Today show at the time, explaining that he wasn’t sure how he and Zeta-Jones would respond to having a home to themselves.

However, during a Thursday, Sept. 4, appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Zeta-Jones, 55, revealed that being empty nesters has actually been a delight for them both.

The Wednesday star recalled people having a “Dame Doom” reaction to learning her kids had moved out. However, she confirmed that she and Douglas are in fact “thriving” and “having a great time.”

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Talking about that first moments of living alone, she shared some initial concerns: “It’s like, ‘What’s gonna happen?’ Oh it’s like, you’re gonna look at your husband and go, ‘Remember me?’ No!”

“We’re good. And the coolest thing is our kids, who are now 25 and [22], like to hang with us. And that’s the best,” she continued, jokingly adding, “But if I was a kid, I’d want to hang out with Michael Douglas, too.”

Zeta-Jones and Douglas share daughter Carys and son Dylan, 25. The actor is also a dad to son Cameron, 46, whom he welcomed with ex-wife Diandra Luker in 1978.

Back in 2021, Douglas said that he wasn’t sure how he and his wife of nearly 25 years would fill the silence when it was just the two of them.

“You forget how many conversations you sort of hide behind in terms of talking about your kids and what’s going on next and this and that, then one day you just look at each other … we’re 20 years now, so all those good years of paying attention to each other are paying off now,” he explained.

The couple just recently got to celebrate another big moment with their kids when Carys graduated from college this past May.

“We are both such proud parents right now!! It’s only just begun!!” Zeta-Jones captioned a post on Instagram, which featured a photo of her and Douglas kissing their daughter on the cheeks.

Carys got her degree in film and international relations. Dylan is also a Brown alum, having graduated from the Ivy League school in 2022.

He has since followed in his parents’ footsteps and is lining up an acting career. In March, it was announced that he landed a debut leading role in the thriller I Will Come to You.

Meanwhile, Zeta-Jones had more to say about being a mom during her late-night appearance.

The Oscar winner revealed that Dylan and Carys had spent the summer in her native Wales visiting her family, like they always did while growing up. However, it was a little different this time.

“FYI: My kids are not kids anymore. They’re grown up,” she told host Seth Meyers, adding that “they love” the recurring trip — “But now they go to the pub. They used to go to the sand pit and the beach. Now they go off to [sing] karaoke.”

Her kids’ excitement about visiting Wales is meaningful to Zeta-Jones, who said, “I think it’s important that they have their Welsh roots, and they always want to keep hold of them.”

The actress also drew a comparison between her onscreen relationship with the titular Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) as Addams family matriarch Morticia and her own real-life bond with Carys.

“I didn’t have a contentious relationship [with Carys], as Morticia does with Wednesday. But the roles were reversed a bit. I did give her a side eye, and she went, ‘Don’t Morticia me,’ ” she recalled of a moment that she shared with her daughter. “It’s become like a meme.”

Wednesday season 2 is now streaming in full on Netflix.