Career Q&A with Kate Beckinsale. Moderated by Dave Karger.
Kate Beckinsale early established herself playing in classic and literary adaptations, some with an Austen pedigree. While still a student at Oxford she played opposite Robert Sean Leonard as “Hero” in Kenneth Branagh’s version of Much Ado About Nothing. She also won the title role in the widely admired British mini-series adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma and particular notice for her performance in John Schlesinger’s version of the Emma update, Cold Comfort Farm.
“It was from Cold Comfort Farm that I thought Kate would be perfect for the Charlotte character in The Last Days of Disco,” Stillman says, “and her role in the Schlesinger film was essentially Austen-derived. It was the first time I wrote a part with a particular actor in mind.
The Last Days of Disco would be Kate’s first American role, winning her the London Film Critics’ “Best Supporting Actress” award, and leading to stardom in America in a series of notable films including Michael Bay’s epic Pearl Harbor, the hit romantic comedy Serendipity opposite John Cusack, and the ensemble drama, Laurel Canyon, with Christian Bale and Frances McDormand.
Then began her remarkable run as the iconic action hero ‘Selene’ in the Underworld series for which she has recently completed the shoot for a fifth installment, focusing its story on the next generation of Vampires and Lycans and the war that continues to wage between the two species.
Her additional film credits include her early British film Shooting Fish, Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, Contraband, Total Recall, Everybody’s Fine, the thriller Vacancy, Click, Jonathan Kaplan’s Brokedown Palace, Van Helsing, Absolutely Anything, and the independent dramas Nothing But The Truth, Stonehearst Asylum, The Face of an Angel, Snow Angels, and Fragments (aka Winged Creatures).
Beckinsale’s television appearances include playing in One Against the Wind for Hallmark Films. On the stage, Beckinsale has appeared in ‘Clocks & Whistles’, ‘Sweetheart’, and the National Theatre’s touring production of ‘The Seagull.’
Beckinsale, who was born and raised in London before going on to Oxford, has for some years been based in Los Angeles.