Kate Beckinsale

Kate Beckinsale – Skuespiller

Tidligt liv og karriere

Kate Beckinsale blev født den 26. juli 1973 i Hounslow, Middlesex, England, og har boet i London det meste af sit liv. Hendes mor er Judy Loe, der har optrådt i flere britiske dramaer og sitcoms og fortsat arbejder som skuespiller, primært i britiske tv-produktioner. Hendes far var Richard Beckinsale, født i Nottingham, England. Han medvirkede i flere populære britiske tv-komedier i 1970erne, især serien Rising Damp (1974), Porridge (1974) og The Lovers (1970). Han døde tragisk tidligt i 1979 i en alder af 31.

Kate gik i den private skole Godolphin and Latymer School i London, hvor hun gik i grundskole og på mellemtrinnet. I sine teenageår vandt hun to gange den britiske boghandler W.H. Smith Young Writers competition – én gang for tre noveller og én gang for tre digte. Efter en tumultagtig ungdom (anoreksi – der er blevet helbredt – og rygevaner, som hun stadig har den dag i dag), begyndte hun gradvist at forfølge skuespillerkarrieren.

Skuespillerkarriere

Hendes store skuespillerdebut kom i en tv-film om Anden Verdenskrig kaldet One Against the Wind (1991), der blev optaget i Luxembourg i sommeren 1991. Den blev først sendt på amerikansk tv i december samme år. Kate begyndte på Oxford Universitys New College i efteråret 1991, hvor hun læste fransk og russisk litteratur. Hun havde allerede besluttet, at hun ønskede at være skuespiller, men for at udvide sine horisonter valgte hun universitetet frem for dramaskolen. Mens hun var i sit første år på Oxford, fik Kate sit store gennembrud i Kenneth Branaghs filmatisering af William Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Kate medvirkede i tre andre film, mens hun stadig gik på Oxford, begyndende med en rolle i middelalderdramaet Royal Deceit (1994), hvor hun spillede Ethel. Filmen blev optaget i foråret 1993 på location i Danmark, og hun filmede sin støttende rolle i påskeferien. Senere samme sommer spillede hun hovedrollen i det moderne mysteriedrama Uncovered (1994). Inden hun vendte tilbage til skolen, tilbragte hun sit tredje år på universitetet med at studere i udlandet på Oxfords studieprogram i Paris, Frankrig, hvor hun dykkede ned i det franske sprog, parisiske kultur og franske cigaretter. Et år væk fra det akademiske miljø og at bo alene i den franske hovedstad fik hende til at genoverveje retningen i sit liv. Hun stod over for et valg: fortsætte med skolen eller fokusere på sin blomstrende skuespillerkarriere. Efter megen overvejelse valgte hun skuespillerkarrieren. Foråret 1994 forlod Kate Oxford efter tre års studier.

Kate medvirkede i den britiske BBC/Thames Television-satire Cold Comfort Farm (1995), der blev optaget i London og East Sussex i slutningen af sommeren 1994, og som fik spektakulære anmeldelser i USA og indtjente over $5 millioner under dens amerikanske kørsel. Den blev genudgivet i britiske biografer om foråret 1997. I begyndelsen af 1995 blev hun optaget af teaterverdenen og turnerede i England med Thelma Holts teaterproduktion af Anton Chekhovs The Seagull. Efter at have afvist flere middelmådige manuskripter og kæmpet med kedsomhed, ventede hun syv måneder, før hun fik tilbudt en anden interessant rolle. Hendes store film i 1995 var romantik-/gyserfilmen Haunted (1995), hvor hun spillede sammen med Aidan Quinn og John Gielgud, og som blev optaget i West Sussex. I denne film ønskede hun at spille en genstand for begær i modsætning til tidligere præstationer, hvor hendes karakterer var meget mindre femme fatale og mere verdensfjerne uskyldige. Kates første filmprojekt i 1996 var den britiske ITV-produktion af Jane Austens roman Emma (1996). Hendes sidste film i 1996 var komedien Shooting Fish (1997), der blev optaget på Shepperton Studios i London tidligt efterår. Hun spillede rollen som Georgie, en altruistisk svindler. Hun fik en datter, Lily, i 1999 med skuespilleren Michael Sheen.

Trivia og citater

Nogle interessante fakta om Kate Beckinsale inkluderer, at hun som seksårig blev vurderet til at have læsefærdigheder svarende til en 11-årig og en IQ på 152. Kate har også sagt: Hvis nogen havde fortalt mig for år tilbage, at det at dele en sans for humor var så vigtigt for partnerskaber, kunne jeg have undgået meget sex! Hun har også udtalt: Ingen er mere tynget af slaveri end en slave, der ikke tror, at de er i slaveri. Og endelig har hun udtalt: Alle kan lide underdog, fordi alle føler sig som en underdog. Uanset hvor succesfuld du er, tænker du altid: Ingen er venlig nok mod mig!

Kate Beckinsale forsøger at tage masser af vitaminer og drikker ikke. Hun ryger dog, og hun har sagt: Jeg ville være ulidelig, hvis jeg ikke røg. Du ville være nødt til at skubbe mig ned fra en altan, for jeg ville være så kedelig.

Kate Beckinsale er en dygtig skuespiller, der fortsat imponerer med sine præstationer på både tv, film og scenen.

Bio

• Underworld: Evolution (2006) – Selene
• Underworld (2003) – Selene
• Van Helsing (2004) – Anna Valerious
• Vacancy (2007) – Amy Fox
• Fools Paradise (2023) – Christiana Dior
• Prisoners Daughter (2022) – Maxine
• Guilty Party (2021) – Beth Burgess (TV-serie)
• Jolt (2021) – Lindy
• The Widow (2019) – Georgia Wells (TV-serie)
• Farming (2018) – Ingrid Carpenter
• The Only Living Boy in New York (2017) – Johanna
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind (2017) – Queen Ayrenn (stemme)
• Underworld: Blood Wars (2016) – Selene
• The Disappointments Room (2016) – Dana Barrow
• Love & Friendship (2016) – Lady Susan Vernon
• The Face of an Angel (2015) – Simone Ford
• Stonehearst Asylum (2014) – Eliza Graves
• The Elder Scrolls Online (2014) – Queen Ayrenn (stemme)

Awards

• National Film Awards, UK: Nomineret til Bedste Skuespillerinde for Farming
• London Critics Circle Film Awards: Vundet prisen for Årets Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship. Vundet prisen for Britisk/Irisk Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship. Vundet prisen for Britisk Støttende Skuespillerinde for The Last Days of Disco
• North Carolina Film Critics Association: Nomineret til Bedste Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship
• Evening Standard British Film Awards: Vundet prisen for Bedste Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship
• Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle Awards: Nomineret til Bedste Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship
• Seattle Film Critics Society: Nomineret til Bedste Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship
• Seattle International Film Festival: Nomineret til Golden Space Needle Award for Bedste Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship
• San Diego Film Festival: Vundet Cinema Vanguard Award
• San Diego International Film Festival: Vundet Festival Award for Cinema Vanguard Award
• Gotham Awards: Nomineret til Bedste Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship
• Critics Choice Awards: Nomineret til Critics Choice Award for Bedste Skuespillerinde i en Komedie for Love & Friendship. Nomineret til Critics Choice Award for Bedste Skuespillerinde for Nothing But the Truth
• Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards: Nomineret til Bedste Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship
• Village Voice Film Poll: Nomineret til Bedste Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship
• International Online Cinema Awards (INOCA): Nomineret til Halfway Award for Bedste Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship. Nomineret til Bedste Ensemble Cast for The Aviator
• Indiana Film Journalists Association, US: Nomineret til Bedste Skuespillerinde for Love & Friendship
• Costume Designers Guild Awards: Vundet Spotlight Award for Irina Palm
• Irina Palm dOr: Nomineret til Værst Britisk Skuespillerinde for Total Recall
• Teen Choice Awards: Nomineret til Choice Movie: Scream for Vacancy. Nomineret til Choice Movie Actress – Drama/Action Adventure og Choice Movie Chemistry for Van Helsing.
• Peoples Choice Awards, USA: Nomineret til Favorit Kvindelig Actionstjerne. Nomineret til Favorit Kvindelig Actionfilmstjerne
• Scream Awards: Vundet Scream Award for Scream Queen for Vacancy og Underworld: Evolution
• MTV Movie + TV Awards: Nomineret til MTV Movie Award for Bedste Heltepræstation for Underworld: Evolution. Nomineret til MTV Movie Award for Bedste Breaking Through Performer for Pearl Harbor
• Fangoria Chainsaw Awards: Nomineret til Chainsaw Award for Relationship from Hell og Bloodiest Beatdown for Underworld: Evolution. Vundet Chainsaw Award for Chick You Dont Wanna Mess With (Bedste Heltinde) for Underworld: Evolution. Nomineret til Best Supporting Actress for Haunted
• Golden Schmoes Awards: Vundet prisen for Bedste T&A i Underworld: Evolution. Nomineret til Bedste T&A i Van Helsing og Underworld
• Screen Actors Guild Awards: Nomineret til Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for The Aviator
• Gold Derby Awards: Nomineret til Ensemble Cast for The Aviator
• Online Film & Television Association: Nomineret til Bedste Ensemble for The Aviator
• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nomineret til Saturn Award for Bedste Kvindelige Skuespiller for Underworld og Serendipity
• Awards Circuit Community Awards: Nomineret til Bedste Cast Ensemble for The Aviator
• The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards: Nomineret til Stinker Award for Værst Skuespillerinde for Van Helsing. Nomineret til Stinker Award for Værst Falsk Accent, Kvindelig for Van Helsing
• Razzie Awards: Nomineret til Razzie Award for Værst Screen Couple (sammen med Ben Affleck og enten Kate Beckinsale eller Josh Hartnett) for Pearl Harbor
• Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival: Vundet Gran Angular Award for Bedste Skuespillerinde for Shooting Fish

Trivia

• Aged six, a school report found she had the reading age of an eleven-year-old and an IQ of 152.
• Spent her teens reading French, Russian and German novels because of her studies, and completed A-levels in Russian, German and French, which resulted in her admission to Oxford University.
• Normally slender, she gained twenty pounds for roles in 2004 – ten pounds for Van Helsing (2004) and another ten pounds to portray the voluptuous Ava Gardner in The Aviator (2004).
• Attended New College, Oxford, England where she studied French and Russian Literature, before dropping out in her third year to pursue acting.
• Director Stephen Sommers wanted Kate for the role of Anna Valerious in Van Helsing (2004). But Stephen feared that it was too similar in tone to Underworld (2003), a film that Kate started and was filming at the time. Eventually, her agent got Sommers to send the script and Kate immediately signed on.
• Mother, with ex-boyfriend Michael Sheen (they dated from 1995 to 2003), of daughter Lily Mo Sheen (b. January 31, 1999).
• Is known for her love of jokes and pranks, usually at the expense of her co-stars.
• Married Len Wiseman on 9th May 2004 at the Bel-Air Hotel. Her daughter, Lily, received her own wedding ring from Wiseman.
• Was among over 80 women who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault in October 2017.
• Got the lead female role in Pearl Harbor (2001) after Charlize Theron pulled out to do Sweet November (2001).
• She had a body double for her nude scenes in Haunted (1995).
• Won the prestigious WH Smiths Young Writers competition for her poetry in 1986.
• Her mother, Judy Loe is an actress, and her father, Richard Beckinsale, was famous as a comedy actor.
• Attended grade/primary school at Flexlands Private School in London, England, she took ballet there and it was at this young age that her father died of a heart attack.
• Has played a vampire (Underworld (2003)) and a vampire hunter (Van Helsing (2004)).
• Met Len Wiseman when he directed her in Underworld (2003).
• Lives in Venice, California because it reminds her of London.
• She became a fan of comic books due to her ex-husband and daughter both being huge fans.
• Was anorexic as a teenager.
• Suffers from stomach ulcers.
• According to an interview she gave on the UK show The Big Breakfast (1992) (December 2001), she hates wearing knickers.
• (January 26, 2019) Revealed she had been hospitalized with a ruptured ovarian cyst.
• The doormat in her Los Angeles home reads – Nice to see you, to see you, nice – a popular British catchphrase coined by TV personality Bruce Forsyth.
• Esquire magazines Sexiest Woman Alive in 2009.
• Often brings a pantomime horse costume with her when she travels.
• One of Kates paternal great-grandmothers, Mary Mitchell, was born in Burma, to a white father, Thomas Mitchell, and a Burmese (Asian) mother, Ma Ninhe.
• Replaced Sarah Jessica Parker after she dropped out from the film Vacancy (2007).
• Supports various charities including The British Heart Foundation and Habitat for Humanity.
• According to her interview on Live with Kelly and Mark (1988) (aka Live with Regis and Kelly) that when she was working on Everybodys Fine (2009), she had never heard of nor had cannoli before until the films star, Robert De Niro introduced her to it.
• Demonstrated on Larry Kings show her hidden talent for pretending to sneeze, which King called phenomenal.
• Had an emergency appendectomy in January, 2004.
• First screen kiss was with Robert Sean Leonard in Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
• Was in close competition for the role of Rachel Keller in The Ring (2002), but lost out because producers felt she looked too young.
• She did not like Physical Education at school. It was also her worst subject.
• Lost out to Juliette Binoche for a part in Wuthering Heights (1992).
• For her very first role, Kate appeared as an 18-month-old child with her mother Judy Loe in the British TV series pilot Episode #1.1 (1975).
• Selected by Hello Magazine as Englands Number #1 Beauty in 2002.
• Ranked #10 in FHMs 100 Sexiest Women in the World list in 2009.
• Kate Beckinsale thought that the American elections were a joke at first and agrees with the London Mayors comment that Trumps stance on Islam is ignorant during an interview with Larry King on Larry King Now (2012).
• Named The Most Beautiful Face of 2007 by TC Candlers list of the 100 Most Beautiful Famous Faces From Around the World, and ranked on their list for 18 consecutive years (1999-2016).
• Ranked #14 on AskMens Top 99 Women list in 2011.
• Has a cat named Clive and a dog named Myf.
• Younger half-sister of Samantha Beckinsale.
• Ranked #12 in FHMs 100 Sexiest Women in the World list in 2008.
• Ranked #43 on Maxims Hot 100 list in 2014.
• Ranked #22 on AskMens Top 99 Women list in 2012.
• Ranked #3 on AskMens Top 99 Women list in 2010.
• Ranked #21 on Maxims Hot 100 list in 2007.
• Ranked #63 on Stuff magazines 102 Sexiest Women in the World list in 2002.
• Half sister-in-law of Richard Trinder.

Andre populære skuespillere: Hannah Waddingham • Jonathan Majors • Ray Winstone • Line Friis Frederiksen • James Cameron • Hayden Christensen • Tom Segura • Jasmine Jobson • Bradley Cooper • Tue Frisk Petersen • Lashana Lynch • Benny Safdie • Jarl Friis-Mikkelsen • Sus Wilkins • Isaak Presley • Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson • Sebastian Aagaard-Williams • Diora Baird • Niels Arden Oplev • Lisa Hogan • Suki Waterhouse • Stockard Channing • Iman Benson • Judi Dench • Rakel Wärmländer • Casper Crump • Katherine Schwarzenegger • Zach Galifianakis • Michael Shannon • Henning Hoffmeier • Tish Cyrus • Lana Wachowski • Elias Budde Christensen • Mark Allen • Ashley Park • Paget Brewster • Tim Curry • Gavin Lewis • Hilary Swank • Henrik Lykkegaard • Anders Hove • Brad Silberling • Janelle Monáe • Morgan Taylor Campbell • Carsten Kressner • M. Night Shyamalan • Andrea Heick Gadeberg • Francesca Mills • Sofie Torp • Charlie Hunnam • Finn Cole • Ole Bornedal • Ulrika Jonsson • Rob Garrison • Linda Hamilton • Marivi Lorido Garcia • Lala Kent • Anders Matthesen • Erika Ishii • Barrett Carnahan • Ester Expósito • Olivia Taylor Dudley • Christine Albeck Børge • Julie Andrews • Robbie Arnett • Daniel Radcliffe • Bradley Cooper • Hannah Kepple • Peter Gantzler • Hugo Weaving • Mark McManus • Georgette Falcone • Miles Teller • Jude Law • Tilda Swinton • Kate Mara • Freya Allan • Jonathan Taylor Thomas • Kris Marshall • Emma Sehested Høeg • Lisa Bonet • Pilar Pascual • Lori Petty • Taapsee Pannu • Claire Danes • Josefine Frida Pettersen • Til Schweiger • Eddie Kaye Thomas • Joel Coen • Kim Cattrall • Kim Bodnia • Jon-Michael Ecker • Marika Lindström • Park Chan-wook • Anna von Lindholm