Kate Beckinsale

Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress.
She initially came to prominence in the 1990s for her roles in costume dramas such as Cold Comfort Farm, Much Ado About Nothing and Emma. Following a breakout performance in 2001's Pearl Harbor, she has appeared in big-budget Hollywood movies like The Aviator, the Underworld films and Van Helsing as well as smaller independent movies such as Everybody's Fine and Winged Creatures. She earned a Critic's Choice Award nomination for her performance in 2008's Nothing But the Truth.
She has three films set for release in 2012: Underworld 4, Contraband and Total Recall.

Kate Beckinsale; Underworld Bloopers


Kate Beckinsale: Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive (Official 4K HD Version)


Kate Beckinsale


Kate Beckinsale Pt 1 of 2


Kate Beckinsale pool scene



Early life

Beckinsale was born in London to actor Richard Beckinsale and actress Judy Loe.[1] Her father unexpectedly died from a heart attack in 1979 (at the age of 31) when she was just five years old. Her mother later married director Roy Battersby, and Beckinsale was raised alongside his four sons and daughter.[2] She also has a paternal half-sister, actress Samantha Beckinsale.
Beckinsale attended Godolphin and Latymer School in West London[3] and was involved with the Orange Tree Youth Theatre.[4] In her teens, she twice won the W. H. Smith Young Writers' competition—once for short stories and once for poetry. She had a nervous breakdown and developed anorexia at the age of fifteen and underwent Freudian psychoanalysis for four years.[5]
She studied French and Russian literature at New College, Oxford University and was involved with the Oxford University Dramatic Society, most notably being directed by fellow student Tom Hooper in a production of A View from the Bridge at the Oxford Playhouse.[6] She spent her third year in Paris as part of Oxford's study-abroad program, after which she decided to leave university to concentrate on her burgeoning acting career.[7]
[edit]Career

Beckinsale landed her first major role, in Kenneth Branagh's big-screen Shakespearean adaptation, Much Ado About Nothing, during her first year at Oxford University.[8] She filmed three other movies while at university: Prince of Jutland, Uncovered and French-language Marie-Louise Ou La Permission. Shortly after leaving Oxford,[9] Beckinsale appeared in Cold Comfort Farm, Haunted and the TV adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. In 1995 and 1996, Beckinsale worked on four plays, most notably The Seagull opposite Michael Sheen.[10] In 1997, she starred in Shooting Fish and as Juliet in a radio production of Romeo and Juliet opposite her then partner, Michael Sheen, who also directed.[11]


Beckinsale in the "54th Festival de Cine de San Sebastián"
Beckinsale then began to seek work in Los Angeles, starring in 1998's The Last Days of Disco with Chloe Sevigny and 1999's Brokedown Palace with Claire Danes. The former earned her a London Critics Circle Film Award.[12] After a break following the birth of her daughter, Beckinsale was cast in 2001's Pearl Harbor opposite Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett, one of the highest-grossing films of its year.[13] She followed this with Serendipity, The Golden Bowl and Laurel Canyon.
She became known as an action star following staring roles in Underworld and Van Helsing.[14] In 2004, she portrayed Ava Gardner in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, a role for which she gained almost 1½ stones (21 lbs).[15] Other roles included Click with Adam Sandler and Tiptoes with Gary Oldman.
In 2006, Beckinsale reprised her role as a vampire in the successful sequel Underworld: Evolution[16] and, in 2007, she appeared in thriller Vacancy and independent film Snow Angels. In 2008, she appeared in Winged Creatures and Nothing But the Truth, receiving a a Critic's Choice Award nomination for her performance in the latter.[17] Despite strong award buzz for both Beckinsale and co-star Vera Farmiga, the film never received a full theatrical release after the distributor filed for bankruptcy.[18] In 2009, she starred in the comic-book adaption Whiteout and Everybody's Fine opposite Robert De Niro.
Beckinsale has three films set for release in 2012: Underworld 4, Contraband and Total Recall.
[edit]Personal life

Beckinsale married American director Len Wiseman on 9 May 2004 in Bel-Air, California.[19] They live in Los Angeles with Beckinsale's daughter, Lily Mo Sheen.
Beckinsale previously had a nine-year relationship with Welsh actor Michael Sheen from 1995 to 2003. Their daughter, Lily Mo Sheen, was born 31 January 1999. They met when cast in a Theatre Royal, Bath production of The Seagull. Their relationship ended after the filming of Underworld (in which they both starred) because Beckinsale realised she had fallen for the film's married director, Len Wiseman.[20] Sheen has said, "'It was obviously not easy, but he's a lovely bloke, Len, and I never felt like anything had gone on behind my back."[21]
Beckinsale and Sheen have remained close friends. Beckinsale has said, "I love him dearly – I would miss him dreadfully if he wasn't in my life."[22] "He is one of the most thoughtful, principled people and Lily is so lucky to have him as a dad."[23]
[edit]Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Devices and Desires Young Alice Mair Television - ITV (one episode)
1991 One Against the Wind Barbe Lindell Television film - Hallmark Hall of Fame/CBS
1992 Rachel's Dream Rachel Television - Channel 4
1993 Anna Lee: Headcase Thea Hahn Television - ITV
1993 Much Ado About Nothing Hero
1994 Uncovered Julia
1994 Prince of Jutland(Royal Deceit) Ethel
1995 Marie-Louise Ou La Permission Marie-Louise
1995 Cold Comfort Farm Flora Poste
1995 Haunted Christina Mariell
1996 Emma Emma Woodhouse Television film - ITV
1997 Shooting Fish Georgie
1998 The Last Days of Disco Charlotte Pingress
1998 Alice Through the Looking Glass Alice Television film - Channel 4
1999 Brokedown Palace Darlene Davis
2001 Pearl Harbor Nurse Lt. Evelyn Johnson
2001 Serendipity Sara Thomas
2001 The Golden Bowl Maggie Verver
2002 Laurel Canyon Alex Elliot
2003 Underworld Selene
2003 Tiptoes Carol
2004 The Aviator Ava Gardner
2004 Van Helsing Anna Valerious
2006 Underworld: Evolution Selene
2006 Click Donna Newman
2007 Vacancy Amy Fox
2007 Snow Angels Annie Marchand
2008 Nothing But the Truth Rachel Armstrong
2008 Fragments (aka Winged Creatures) Carla Davenport
2009 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Selene voice only
2009 Whiteout Carrie Stetko
2009 Everybody's Fine Amy
2012 Underworld: Awakening Selene Post-production
2012 Contraband Kate Farraday Post-production
2012 Total Recall Lori Filming
[edit]Stage

The Seagull (as Nina), Theatre Royal, Bath and Tour, 1995
Sweetheart (as Toni), Royal Court Theatre, 1996
Clocks and Whistles (as Anne), The Bush, 1996
Faithless, unknown London theatre, 1996
[edit]Radio

Narrated Emma (1996) for Hodder & Stoughton AudioBooks and Diana Hendry's The Proposal (1997) for BBC Radio 4. Appeared as Juliet in the Naxos AudioBooks's production of Romeo and Juliet (1997).
[edit]Awards and nominations

Year Award Award ceremony Film Result
1997 Best Actress Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival Shooting Fish Won
1999 British Supporting Actress of the Year (tied with Minnie Driver for Good Will Hunting) London Critics Circle Film Awards The Last Days of Disco Won
2002 Best Actress Saturn Award Serendipity Nominated
2004 Best Actress Saturn Award Underworld Nominated
2004 Best Trans-Atlantic Breakthrough Performer MTV Movie Awards Nominated
2005 Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (shared with the cast) Screen Actors Guild Awards The Aviator Nominated
2005 Favorite Female Action Movie Star People's Choice Awards Nominated
2006 Best Hero MTV Movie Awards Underworld: Evolution Nominated
2006 Favorite Female Action Star People's Choice Awards Nominated
2008 Best Actress Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Nothing But the Truth Nominated

References from Wikipedia.com