How Catherine Zeta-Jones Got Cast by Pure Chance
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- Pip Burley, producer of ITV's The Darling Buds of May, told BBC Radio Wales he discovered Catherine Zeta-Jones by chance in the reception of Yorkshire Television's Bloomsbury offices during his final casting session — she was there for a different light entertainment programme and wasn't on the casting director's list.
- Burley had first spotted Jones as a second understudy on the musical 42nd Street and recalled: "We were struck with her," ultimately telling the casting director to "ring down to reception and find out who she is."
- Burley revealed Danny DeVito, Bob Hoskins, and Phil Collins were all considered for the role of Pop Larkin before David Jason was cast, with the team drawn to actors with "shortish, cheeky, funny" qualities.
- Co-star David Jason predicted Jones' Hollywood trajectory early on, telling the production "she won't be with us for long, she'll be off to Hollywood before you know it," according to Burley.
- Burley, who also composed the show's theme song, noted Jones had a "very strong Welsh accent" that "doesn't always work in showbiz" and "America aren't familiar with it," but said it "kind of didn't matter with her."
- The Darling Buds of May, a 90s ITV comedy-drama adapted from H.E. Bates' books, was "easier to write than to cast," with the role of Mariette proving especially difficult as "lots of young actresses just didn't excite us."
- Burley said three final women had auditioned before he intervened on Jones' behalf, and the casting director told them to "make your mind up" — leading to Burley's now-famous line: "I said hang about, there was a girl down in reception."
Why it matters: The casting anecdote underscores how a single producer's instinct — overriding his own casting director to audition a woman who wasn't even on the list — launched one of Hollywood's most successful Welsh-born careers, while the Pop Larkin shortlist of DeVito, Hoskins, and Collins reveals how radically different the beloved series could have looked.
