Underworld, The Aviator, The Widow
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$15 Million
“With every project you do, you bring out a part of yourself, and it seems to be quite a good way of expanding a person.” Kate Beckinsale is an English actress who first came to prominence in the 1993 film version of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, where she played Hero. She had many roles in British film afterward, including Cold Comfort Farm (1995), Emma (1996), and The Golden Bowl in 2000 before crossing the pond to seek work in the United States.
In 2001, she landed a leading role in the blockbuster hit, Pearl Harbor before moving on to other major films such as Serendipity (2001), Underworld (2003), Van Helsing (2004), The Aviator (2004), Underworld: Evolution (2006), Click (2006), Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), Contraband (2012), Underworld Awakening (2012), Total Recall (2012), Underworld: Blood Wars (2016), The Only Living Boy in New York (2017), and Amazon Prime series The Widow (2019).
Beckinsale has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood including names like: Adam Sandler, of whom she said, “If I had a child actor, I would wish for it to be in an Adam Sandler movie, because he just comes in and makes them so comfortable and is so brilliant with them and they all go home and they, that they’ve got this special relationship.”
Kate Beckinsale’s Early Life
Acting was in Kate Beckinsale’s genes and the bug bit her early. Born in London, England to actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe, Kate Beckinsale’s first television appearance occurred at the ripe old age of four where she appeared on an episode of This is Your Life that was dedicated to her father, who died suddenly one year later when Beckinsale was only five. If that weren’t enough, Vanessa Redgrave and Ken Loach were considered close family friends for the young star.
Beckinsale’s youth was fraught with anxiety and uncertainty. She considers herself a late bloomer, once saying, “I feel like I flunked at adolescence really badly. I found it really difficult.” She struggled to find her place and actually developed anorexia at the age of 15 in an attempt to cope.
She was bookish and extremely smart, going on to study French and Russian literature and spent one year abroad, in Paris. After her year abroad she decided to leave college behind to focus on her acting career, feeling torn between the two. She was quoted as saying, “It was getting to the point where I wasn’t enjoying either thing enough because both were very high pressure.”
She had several smaller roads in film and television before coming to prominence for her role in Much Ado About Nothing where she starred alongside many acting heavyweights, such as Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, and Keanu Reeves. She went on to film a few other movies in the U.K. and one French film before deciding to transition to the U.S. and see what Hollywood had to offer.
Kate Beckinsale’s United States Move
The gamble paid off quite nicely for Beckinsale whose first U.S. film as the blockbuster hit, Pearl Harbor, which grossed $449.2 million worldwide at the box office. She then went on to film romantic comedy, Serendipity, with John Cusack, which was released in 2001. Underworld was the next big thing for Beckinsale, who has an affinity for action films, and there was plenty of action here. In Underworld, Beckinsale plays Selene, a vampire engaged in a war with lycans she believed murdered her family when she was a child. While critics were no fans of the movie, it performed solidly at the box office – enough so that sequels have kept her busy over the past decade.
Throughout her career, Beckinsale has been nominated for numerous awards and won four, including Sitges – Catalan International Film Festival Award for Best Actress in 1997 for Shooting Fish; The London Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year in 1999 for The Last Days of Disco; Spike Guys’ Choice Awards for Jean-Claude Gahd Dam in 2012 for Underworld: Awakening; and the 2017 London Critics Circle Award for British Actress of the Year for Love & Friendship.
Beckinsale has a child with actor Michael Sheen from their eight-year relationship from 1995 to 2003. She later married Underworld director, Len Wiseman, in 2004 after falling in love while filming the movie. They announced their separation in November 2015.
Beckinsale’s best days are far from over. She continues to wow audiences with her stunning good looks and her talent on the big screen. While fans are currently watching The Widow on Amazon Prime, other films are currently filming and in the works.
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