Kate Beckinsale had acting in the blood, given that she was the offspring of the late British comedian Richard Beckinsale and his actress wife Judy Loe. As a teenager, she was enrolled at London's all-female Godolphin and Latymer School and won a pair of writing contests for her astute skills in poetry and short story writing. Nevertheless, she had a rebellious streak that came out in funny ways -- like a first-place finish at the Youth's Burp for Fame contest -- and in more serious ways like regular smoking and a bout with anorexia.
Once she gained control of her demons, Kate Beckinsale decided to move forward with acting while in the midst of her Russian and French literature studies at Oxford University. Small roles in a string of television movies, starting with One Against the Wind in 1991, eventually led to her feature film debut as Hero in Kenneth Branagh's 1993 Shakespearean effort, Much Ado About Nothing. Kate Beckinsale would follow it up with a role opposite a young Christian Bale in Prince of Jutland a year later and the lead role of Emma Woodhouse in the Emmy-winning Emma in 1996. Following a turn as the socialite partner in crime to Chloe Sevigny in 1998's The Last Days of Disco, Kate Beckinsale landed a lead role opposite Claire Danes in the intense Thailand tourist drama, Brokedown Palace. The film was a box-office disappointment, but it marked a smooth transition for Kate Beckinsale from small-scale independent films and British dramas into full-blown Hollywood fare.
After reteaming with Christian Bale to play his beautiful but cold companion in the L.A. drama, Laurel Canyon, Kate Beckinsale embodied the most memorable role of her young career in Underworld -- playing Selene, a vampire with a penchant for tight leather outfits and a forbidden attraction to a werewolf. The film was a cult favorite and led its leading lady straight into the arms of Hugh Jackman for another mix of action and chills in 2004's summer extravaganza, Van Helsing. Just when audiences and critics had her pegged as a purely mainstream actress, Kate Beckinsale surprised many with her sharp turn as screen legend Ava Gardner in Martin Scorsese's look at Howard Hughes (via Leonardo DiCaprio) in the Oscar contender, The Aviator.
Having grown accustomed to action-heavy (and not always acting-heavy) films in recent years, Kate Beckinsale took a step toward developing her talents with a pair of smaller-scale efforts in 2008. The first was Winged Creatures featuring Sam Rockwell and the second was Nothing But the Truth, which cast Kate Beckinsale as a journalist threatened with jail time after leaking the identity of a CIA agent. The story was inspired by the real-life Valerie Plame scandal. In 2009, Kate Beckinsale returned to the studio system to play a U.S. Marshal chasing a killer in Antarctica in Whiteout and the daughter of recent widower Robert De Niro in Everybody's Fine. After being named the Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire that same year, Kate Beckinsale was rumored to be appearing in 2011's Underworld 3-D, which is set to be directed by her husband, Len Wiseman.
Once she gained control of her demons, Kate Beckinsale decided to move forward with acting while in the midst of her Russian and French literature studies at Oxford University. Small roles in a string of television movies, starting with One Against the Wind in 1991, eventually led to her feature film debut as Hero in Kenneth Branagh's 1993 Shakespearean effort, Much Ado About Nothing. Kate Beckinsale would follow it up with a role opposite a young Christian Bale in Prince of Jutland a year later and the lead role of Emma Woodhouse in the Emmy-winning Emma in 1996. Following a turn as the socialite partner in crime to Chloe Sevigny in 1998's The Last Days of Disco, Kate Beckinsale landed a lead role opposite Claire Danes in the intense Thailand tourist drama, Brokedown Palace. The film was a box-office disappointment, but it marked a smooth transition for Kate Beckinsale from small-scale independent films and British dramas into full-blown Hollywood fare.
kate beckinsale in pearl harbor and underworld
In 2001, Kate Beckinsale broke into the ranks of blockbusters with the lead female role of Evelyn Johnson in Michael Bay's action tearjerker (who knew there was such a thing?), Pearl Harbor. As a heroic nurse, she got to romance both Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck while recreating one of the darkest moments of American history. Though Kate Beckinsale and her two male costars had a shared Razzie Award nomination for Worst On-Screen Couple, the film was one of the year's biggest hits and the actress did earn an MTV Movie Awards nomination for Best Female Performance.After reteaming with Christian Bale to play his beautiful but cold companion in the L.A. drama, Laurel Canyon, Kate Beckinsale embodied the most memorable role of her young career in Underworld -- playing Selene, a vampire with a penchant for tight leather outfits and a forbidden attraction to a werewolf. The film was a cult favorite and led its leading lady straight into the arms of Hugh Jackman for another mix of action and chills in 2004's summer extravaganza, Van Helsing. Just when audiences and critics had her pegged as a purely mainstream actress, Kate Beckinsale surprised many with her sharp turn as screen legend Ava Gardner in Martin Scorsese's look at Howard Hughes (via Leonardo DiCaprio) in the Oscar contender, The Aviator.
kate beckinsale in whiteout and everybody's fine
2006 marked Kate Beckinsale's next adventure as Selene for the inevitable sequel, Underworld: Evolution, which was a hot ticket at the box office and a solid career move. Next up was Click, a comedy that had the beauty playing the confused wife of Adam Sandler as he uses a remote control to skip through the key events of his adult life. Kate Beckinsale ventured back to the horror realm as a wife trapped in a seedy hotel room with her equally afraid husband, Luke Wilson, in 2007's Vacancy.Having grown accustomed to action-heavy (and not always acting-heavy) films in recent years, Kate Beckinsale took a step toward developing her talents with a pair of smaller-scale efforts in 2008. The first was Winged Creatures featuring Sam Rockwell and the second was Nothing But the Truth, which cast Kate Beckinsale as a journalist threatened with jail time after leaking the identity of a CIA agent. The story was inspired by the real-life Valerie Plame scandal. In 2009, Kate Beckinsale returned to the studio system to play a U.S. Marshal chasing a killer in Antarctica in Whiteout and the daughter of recent widower Robert De Niro in Everybody's Fine. After being named the Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire that same year, Kate Beckinsale was rumored to be appearing in 2011's Underworld 3-D, which is set to be directed by her husband, Len Wiseman.
