With her irresistible charm, England’s KATE BECKINSALE (Anna Valerious) has captured the attention of audiences and critics on both sides of the Atlantic.
In a challenging role that broke from all previous characters that Beckinsale has portrayed, she was most recently seen starring in Underworld. The film, directed by Len Wiseman, tells a modern tale of deadly action and forbidden love between a beautiful aristocratic vampire, Selene, portrayed by Beckinsale, and her mortal enemy, a werewolf who is also the member of shrewd gang of street thugs, played by Scott Speedman.
Beckinsale was also recently seen in the ensemble drama Laurel Canyon for Sony Pictures Classics. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko, the film also stars Frances McDormand, Christian Bale and Allesandro Nivola. Beckinsale portrays Bale’s fiancé who returns with him to Los Angeles and becomes seduced by his free-spirited mother’s lifestyle and by her lover, a British rocker (Nivola).
Beckinsale starred in Peter Chelsom’s Serendipity for Miramax Films. Beckinsale and John Cusack portray two strangers who meet and fall in love one night. Ten years later, when each is on the verge of marriage to someone else, they become convinced that they are soul mates and they embark on a race against time to find each other again.
Upcoming, Beckinsale will be seen portraying Ava Gardner opposite Leonardo DiCaprio’s Howard Hughes in the Martin Scorsese-directed screen biography The Aviator. She will also be seen starring in the independent film Tiptoes, opposite Matthew McConaughey and Gary Oldman. Beckinsale portrays a young woman who finds out she is pregnant, but becomes concerned when she learns her boyfriend (McConaughey) comes from a long line of little people.
In 2001, Beckinsale was seen in the action epic Pearl Harbor. Directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Beckinsale co-starred with Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Tom Sizemore. Affleck and Hartnett portrayed Navy pilots and best friends who fall in love with a Navy nurse played by Beckinsale.
Beckinsale also appeared in the critically acclaimed film The Golden Bowl for Lions Gate Films. A Merchant Ivory production set in 1903, Beckinsale starred as Maggie, the daughter of Adam Verver (played by Nick Nolte) and the wife of Prince Amerigo (Jeremy Northam). The film also starred Uma Thurman as Charlotte Stant, Verver’s wife and Americgo’s former lover. As father and daughter and the two former lovers become entwined into one family, old passions and new suspicions ignite.
Beckinsale previously co-starred with Claire Danes and Bill Pullman in the Jonathan Kaplan directed drama Brokedown Palace for Fox in 2000. She also appeared with Chloë Sevigny, Chris Eigeman, Jennifer Beals and Robert Sean Leonard in Whit Stillman’s early ‘80s ensemble drama, The Last Days of Disco, and in the British comedy Shooting Fish, written and directed by Stefan Schwartz and starring opposite Stuart Townsend and Dan Futterman.
Beckinsale played the title role of A&E’s Emma from the same producer of their critically acclaimed production of Pride and Prejudice. Directed by Diarmuid Lawrence, the film featured an all-star British cast, including Mark Strong, Samantha Morton, Prunella Scales, Samantha Bond, Olivia Williams and James Hazeldine.
Beckinsale first gained notice in the United States as the fiery, take-charge heroine Flora Poste in John Schlesinger’s sleeper hit Cold Comfort Farm. Adapted from Stella Gibbons’ wily satirical novel, Cold Comfort Farm tells the story of the young Miss Poste (Beckinsale), who, upon finding herself in dire financial straits, decides to move to Cold Comfort Farm to live with her off-beat band of cousins, the Starkadders. Upon her arrival, Flora begins to slowly transform the lives of each of the downtrodden residents in her adopted community and, in the process, learns some important lessons about herself. The film, which was originally televised on the BBC, also starred Joanna Lumley, Sir Ian McKellen, Eileen Atkins and Rufus Sewell.
Her U.S. debut was in Kenneth Branagh’s critically acclaimed film, Much Ado About Nothing, with Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves and Denzel Washington. Beckinsale portrayed the lovely and naïve Hero, who is swept off her feet by the dashing Count Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), only to have her heart broken by a tangled web of deceit and trickery.
Additional film credits include Haunted, opposite Aidan Quinn; Uncovered; Manuel Fleche’s Mary Louise; and The Prince of Jutland, from director Gabriel Axel. Beckinsale’s roles for television have included the Hallmark telefilm One Against the Wind and the series Anna Lee and Rachel’s Dream.
On the stage, she has appeared in Clocks and Whistles, Sweetheart and in the British national touring production of The Seagull.
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