Kate Beckinsale: Check Out Her Best Roles
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Kate Beckinsale
Kathrin Romary Beckinsale was born on July 26th, 1973 in London, England, and the only child of English actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe. Before Kate pursued a career in acting, she had actually studied languages, including French and Russian at New College, Oxford. She ultimately changed career paths and began her acting debut in the early '90s. See more on Kate Beckinsale's most famed roles...
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'Much Ado About Nothing'
Kate's film debut was in 1993's Much Ado About Nothing, based off of the Shakespeare play of the same name. In it, she starred opposite Emma Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard (pictured), Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeves. Not a bad cast to be apart of for your first film! She portrays Hero and her lover is Count Claudio (Leonard). It was one of the most financially successful Shakespeare films to appear in theaters!
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'Pearl Harbor'
Kate Beckinsale's next major role was in the drama Pearl Harbor (2001), where Beckinsale portrays a nurse during WWII and is tied between choosing two men to be the love of her life: the characters of Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett. The film went on to be nominated for four Academy Awards, and grossed $450 million globally in the box office.
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'Serendipity'
Beckinsale stole hearts in the 2001 rom-com Serendipity, starring her love interest in the film, John Cusack. Who doesn't love a good romantic comedy that's set in New York during Christmastime? If you haven't seen this classic yet, we highly recommend it! The film additionally stars Jeremy Piven and Molly Shannon.
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'The Aviator'
The 2004 biographical drama The Aviator was one of Kate's best performances to date, where she portrayed the beautiful Ava Gardner. The Aviator went on to win five out of it's eleven nominated Academy Awards, respectively. The Martin Scorsese film includes Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes and Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, and went on to gross an impressive $214 million at the box office!
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'Underworld' film series
Kate then went on a different path in her acting roles: action films. She grew a massive fan cult for her role as the vampire "Selene" in the Underworld film series. In total, there are five Underworld films, which have collectively earned around $539 million at the box office. Her next action role would also be in the dark, horror-like film...
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'Van Helsing'
...Van Helsing! In this 2004 period action film, Kate played the role of "Anna Valerious" opposite Hugh Jackman. The movie is based off of the original 1897 Dracula novel. Like her Underworld films, this movie also went on to be a financial success, garnering over $300 million worldwide!
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'Whiteout'
Kate's next big action film was in Whiteout (2009) where she starred alongside Suits actor Gabriel Macht. The film takes place in Antarctica in 1957, where Beckinsale plays the Special Deputy U.S. Marshal "Carrie Stetko". The film is also based off of the 1998 comic book of the same name!
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'Contraband'
Kate Beckinsale and Mark Wahlberg star as a married couple in the thriller Contraband (2012). In this tense movie, Beckinsale and Wahlberg get involved in an international drug trade, that, naturally has its problems. The film was directed by Icelandic actor Baltasar Kormákur, who starred in the original adaption of this movie, titled Reykjavík-Rotterdam (2008).
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'Total Recall'
While 2012's Total Recall was based off of the original 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same name, it includes an entirely different cast. Beckinsale stars alongside Colin Farrell, Jessica Biel and Bryan Cranston in this action thriller! The film was also directed by Len Wiseman, who directed the Underworld film series and was Kate's husband from 2004-2019.
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