Catherine graduated from the Oxford School of Drama in 1993.

In the late 1990s, she was reported to be dating Joseph Fiennes, and in 2000 the director Edmund Elias Merhige. She lives in Chelsea Harbour, London.

Her theatre work includes the part of Claudia in Honour, by Joanna Murray-Smith, at the National Theatre, London, around February 2003.

In 2004, Catherine was reported to be working with William Boyd on the script of a short film called Running to Stand Still, which will serve as her debut as a director.