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Early Life

Kathryn Bailey Beckinsale born July 26^th 1973 in Finsbury Park, London, England. She is the daughter of actor Richard Beckinsale and actress Judy Loe. Her father was a popular sitcom actor in the U.K. throughout the 1970’s having starring roles in the hugely successful Porridge and Rising Damp before his premature death when Kate was five. She has a paternal half-sister, Samantha, who is also an actress.

Beckinsale attended the Godolphin and Latymer School, an all-girls independent school in Hammersmith, west London. Having gained three language A levels, in Russian, German and French, Beckinsale studied French and Russian literature at the prestigious New College, Oxford. While in her first year at Oxford, Kate received her big break in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing in 1993. The following year she was cast as Ethel in the medieval historical drama Prince of Jutland. Shortly after, only three years into her degree, Kate decided to drop out of university to pursue acting as a career full time.

Career Highlights

Kate’s first big film role came in 1998 when she was cast as Georgie in the British film Shooting Fish. Although the film failed to make a impact in the U.S. her performance was well received in the British press leading to her first major American film, Brokedown Palace, the following year. In 2001 Beckinsale was cast in Jerry Bruckheimer’s war epic Pearl Harbor. Directed by Michael Bay, Kate played the female lead role, Nurse Lt. Evelyn Johnson, alongside a large ensemble cast, including Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin, Jon Voight, Josh Hartnett, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Dan Aykroyd. The film was one of the highest grossing of the year earning around $450 million worldwide. Beckinsale was also nominated for the Best Female Performance at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards. 2001 also saw Kate star opposite John Cusack in the romantic comedy “Serendipity.”

In 2003 Beckinsale was cast as Selene, a vampire specializing in assassinations, in the action-horror film Underworld. The film also featured her long time boyfriend Michael Sheen, with whom she has a daughter. However during filming, Beckinsale began a relationship with Len Wiseman, the films director. The pair were married on May 9^th 2004 in Bel-Air, California.

The following year she appeared in Stephen Sommer’s action/gothic horror film Van Helsing. Beckinsale co-starred with Hugh Jackman as Anna Valerious in the movie based on a version of the character of Abraham Van Helsing from Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Although the film was unpopular with the critics, Van Helsing grossed over $300 million worldwide. At the end of 2004 Beckinsale was highly praised for her performance as the fiery film icon Ava Gardner in Martin Scorsese's multiple Oscar winning Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator.

In January 2006, Beckinsale reprised her role as a vampire in the movie Underworld: Evolution, a sequel to her 2003 film, Underworld, again directed by her husband, Len Wiseman. The film opened at the #1 spot at the box office, grossing over $26 million in its first weekend of release. Later that year Beckinsale appeared in the Adam Sandler comedy Click.

2008 saw Beckinsale enjoy success in Rod Lurie's political drama Nothing But The Truth opposite Alan Alda and the independent drama Winged Creatures opposite Forest Whitaker and Dakota Fanning.

1993 - Much Ado About Nothing - Hero

1994 - Uncovered - Julia

1994 - Prince of Jutland - Ethel

1995 - Cold Comfort Farm - Flora Poste

1995 - Haunted - Christina Mariell

1996 - Emma - Emma Woodhouse

1998 - The Last Days of Disco - Charlotte Pingress

1998 - Shooting Fish - Georgie

1998 - Alice Through the Looking Glass - Alice

1999 - Brokedown Palace - Darlene Davis

2001 - Serendipity - Sara Thomas

2001 - Pearl Harbor - Nurse Lt. Evelyn Johnson

2001 - The Golden Bowl - Maggie Verver

2002 - Laurel Canyon - Alex Elliot

2003 - Underworld - Selene

2003 - Tiptoes - Carol

2004 - The Aviator - Ava Gardner

2004 - Van Helsing - Anna Valerious

2006 - Click - Donna Newman

2006 - Underworld: Evolution - Selene

2007 - Vacancy - Amy Fox

2008 - Snow Angels - Annie Marchand

2008 - Winged Creatures - Carla Davenport

2008 - Nothing But the Truth - Rachel Armstrong

Trivia 

• Kate Beckinsale was the third most searched movie star in 2006, according to IMDB.
• Beckinsale twice won the W. H. Smith Young Writers' competition, once for three short stories and once for three poems.
• Was chosen by the readers of English magazine Hello! as "England’s #1 Beauty", in 2002
• She is close friends with David and Victoria Beckham.
• Beckinsale got the lead female role in Pearl Harbor after Charlize Theron pulled out to film Sweet November.
• She has stated that she suffered from anorexia during her early teens.
• According to an interview she gave on the UK show "The Big Breakfast" in 2001 she hates wearing knickers.
• She gained 20 pounds in order to play the role of Ava Gardner in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.

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