Catherine was born in London, but moved to California with her Iranian mother at age 2. Her mother still acts as her personal assistant. As a child, she acted in various TV adverts. She went to UCLA to study biology, but dropped out to become a model in Japan. She moved back into acting with a Mexican commercial for Amex and then followed that up by being Isabella Rossellini's nude body double in Death Becomes Her (1992), where she also met her future husband, Adam Beason, who was director Robert Zemeckis's assistant. The couple currently live near L.A. with their daughter Gemma.