Catherine Zeta-Jones on husband Michael Douglas kissing Matt Damon Catherine Zeta Jones tells us what she thinks about husband Michael Douglas kissing Matt Damon. CATHERINE Zeta-Jones and her husband, Michael Douglas, are well practised in grinning and baring each other's on-screen smooches. But Douglas's latest movie coupling has Zeta-Jones positively beaming. "If my husband's gonna kiss anybody else in the world, I'm so happy it's Matt Damon," she says. Zeta-Jones has seen Behind the Candelabra, the forthcoming Steven Soderbergh directed HBO biopic about flamboyant entertainer Liberace and his much younger male lover. Douglas plays the musician, Damon the boyfriend. Zeta-Jones approves of Damon's methods. "Supposedly, when Matt Damon was kissing Michael, he closed his eyes and pretended he was kissing me," she reveals. I just thought that was one of the biggest compliments I've ever had. Zeta-Jones, 43, from Wales, and Douglas, 68, from Hollywood royalty, have been married for more than a dozen years. Their two children - Dylan, 12, and Carys, almost 10 - keep Zeta-Jones busy enough that her recent movie roles, (Rock of Ages, Playing for Keeps, Broken City) have been supporting parts rather than leading-lady material. "I love my job, but it takes me a lot to leave my kids, leave my husband and leave my dogs," Zeta-Jones says, while promoting the latest of these small-but-worthy roles, in Soderbergh's Side Effects. I could pretty much do the phone book with him if he asked ... just read it in three different languages - French, Welsh and English ... But I find it really hard to leave my children; It takes me great thought as to what it is I want to leave my kids and my husband for. In Side Effects, Zeta-Jones gets her own back on Douglas and Damon, planting one on the lips of co-star Rooney Mara. "It's so screwed up," Zeta-Jones laughs of the odd multi-movie love-square. This is why Steven employs us, because we can be screwed up as much as we want. "I just wish Rooney was prettier," she adds jokingly. She's not funny, she's not pretty, she can't act - I wish Steven could have done a little better for me. Side Effects is such a rollercoaster, Zeta-Jones is understandably reluctant to explain how she and Mara come to lock lips in the thriller. "This is the hardest movie to discuss because at any given moment you could reveal the wonderful twists and turns," she says. The story begins with a privileged young couple, Emily (Mara) and Martin (Channing Tatum). When Emily's depression returns, she's prescribed a new pill by psychiatrist Dr Banks (Jude Law). The side effects of this supposed mood-enhancing drug turn out to be horrific. Zeta-Jones plays Emily's former psychiatrist, who consults with Dr Banks. "The relationships between Jude and myself and Rooney run much deeper than might be your first impression," she says. I'm actually thrilled Steven cast me as a doctor because I never went to college and I always wanted an 'MD' after my name. I'm really quite flattered that he fulfilled my mother's dream! The film is enough to make you wonder whether every American is on medication or a therapist's couch. It's a far cry from the culture Zeta-Jones grew up in. "There was always this British stiff upper lip (attitude) where basically your emotions were quashed," she says. Don't put your dirty laundry out. Who cares about how you feel? Buck up, you'll be fine tomorrow. In America, it has a much more public face, maybe people just feel easier speaking about it. I think speaking about these issues is a very good thing. Zeta-Jones has previously worked with Soderbergh on 2000's Traffic and 2004's Ocean's Twelve. She says she's always happy to reconnect with the director because "he rubbed my feet when I was pregnant on Traffic!" She's since completed another small role in the oldies' action sequel Red 2 (in this one, she kisses Bruce Willis). "Red was a blast," says Zeta-Jones. An ensemble cast of (John) Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Bruce and Mary-Louise (Parker) - that made sense to me, that sounded like fun. SEE Side Effects, opens today.