Born on
July 26, 1973 in London, England, Beckinsale was the daughter of comic Richard
Beckinsale - who died when she was five years old - and actress Judy Loe. She
pursued her education at Godolphin & Latymer School, then Oxford
University, where she studied French and Russian literature, as well as took up
acting. Beckinsale, however, spent a good portion of her teen years struggling
with an eating disorder - of which she later spoke frankly of in interviews -
before she decided to try her hand at acting. Meanwhile, after making her debut
in a bit part in the mystery "Devices and Desires" (BBC, 1991), she
landed the pivotal role of the rebellious daughter of a British woman (Judy
Davis) involved with the French Resistance during WWII in "One Against the
Wind" (CBS, 1991). Once she had become established as an ingénue with
"Much Ado About Nothing," Beckinsale carefully crafted a career path
that would not find her typecast.
Born on
July 26, 1973 in London, England, Beckinsale pursued her education at Godolphin
& Latymer School, then Oxford University, where she took up acting. In
"Royal Deceit/The Prince of Jutland" (1994), which was based on the
Danish prince whose life inspired Shakespeare's "Hamlet," she starred
opposite Christian Bale. A lighter, more charming side to the actress was
displayed in "Marie-Louise, or The Leave" (1995), in which she played
a young woman searching for her lover in a crowded train station. Beckinsale
delivered a strong turn as the meddlesome orphan taken in by eccentric
relatives in the brittle comedy "Cold Comfort Farm" (also 1995). As
Flora Poste, she anchored the film and managed to make a busybody character
seem charming, and in some ways it was a warm-up for her tackling "Jane
Austen's Emma" (BBC/AE, 1996). Although Douglas McGrath's feature version
starring Gwyneth Paltrow had opened on American screens first, this version
found its partisans who felt it was more faithful to the spirit of Austen.
Capitalizing
on the sass and intelligence she had projected in both "Cold Comfort
Farm" and "Jane Austen's Emma", Beckinsale shone as an
aristocratic med student who falls in with two charming con men (Dan Futterman
and Stuart Townsend) in the underrated caper flick "Shooting Fish"
(1997). Adopting a flawless American accent, the actress next registered as the
bitchy junior publishing executive seeking fun and perhaps Mr. Right in Whit
Stillman's "The Last Days of Disco" (1998). The following year, Beckinsale
retained the Americanisms to portray a mousy tourist in Thailand who falls for
a slick Australian, dragging herself and her traveling companion (Claire Danes)
into accusations of drug smuggling in "Brokedown Palace." After time
out for motherhood, she returned to the big screen as Nick Nolte's daughter in
the Merchant Ivory adaptation of Henry James' "The Golden Bowl"
(2000).
The
attractive actress finally had a shot at more mainstream success with two high
profile leading roles in 2001. In the big-budget epic "Pearl Harbor,"
she was cast as a US Navy nurse who falls in love with a dashing pilot (Ben
Affleck) but when news of his death arrives turns to his best friend (Josh
Hartnett) for comfort. And Beckinsale was cast opposite John Cusack in the
mildly engaging romantic comedy "Serendipity," playing a woman who
believes more in fate than love at first sight and faces a long but seemingly
inevitable road to romance. The actress surfaced again in 2003 in the arty
indie "Laurel Canyon" as the icy fiancée of an L.A. native (Christian
Bale) who returns to his eclectic mother's home in Laurel Canyon, where
Beckinsale's character slowly becomes seduced by the sultry Los Angeles
lifestyle.
Her
highest profile role to date came in "Underworld" (2003), a glossy
supernatural thriller with Romeo-and-Juliet overtones, in which Beckinsale
played Selene, a vampire embroiled in her kind's long feud with a werewolf clan
who falls in love with one of her blood enemies (Scott Speedman). Beckinsale
followed up with another action-packed supernatural thriller, teaming with Hugh
Jackman for "Van Helsing" (2004), in which she played Anna Valerious,
a vampire slayer from a long line committed to ending the reign of Count
Dracula who teams with the count's longtime human foe. The actress was better
served by her next project, director Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes glamorous
and visually arresting biopic "The Aviator" (2004), in which the
actress provided a sultry spark as the fiery film icon Ava Gardner, Hughes'
(Leonardo DiCaprio) most challenging, yet sympathetic, paramour.
Beckinsale
next revived the vampire Selene for the sequel, "Underworld:
Evolution" (2006), as vampires and werewolves battle each other for
ultimate control of the undead. As the violence between the two warring
factions increases, Selene and her werewolf beau, Michael (Scott Speedman), try
to uncover the secrets of the conflict while delving into their own pasts.
Despite poor reviews, "Underworld: Evolution" managed to rake in a
descent payday. Meanwhile, she starred opposite Adam Sandler in
"Click" (2006), a middlebrow comedy about an overworked architect
(Sandler) whose life seemingly changes for the better when a strange Bed, Bath
and Beyond clerk gives him a universal remote that can pause, rewind or
fast-forward anything - barking dog included. But as the remote gets stuck on
fast-forward, causing him to miss all the important events in his life, he
realizes that it's probably better to take the bad with the good rather than
let his whole life pass before his eyes.
Returning
to the horror genre - an apparent favorite for the actress - Beckinsale starred
in "Vacancy" (2007), another in a long line of suspense thrillers
released in the early part of the century. In this all-too-obvious take on
"Psycho," Beckinsale played the soon-to-be ex-wife of a man (Luke
Wilson) forced to spend the night at a seedy motel run by an odd, but seemingly
harmless proprietor (Frank Whaley). But the couple soon discovers that the
cache of homemade slasher flicks they have found were shot in the very room in
which they are staying - both must put aside their differences and work
together in order to avoid becoming the next victims of the sadistic
filmmakers. While most horror thriller are brushed off by critics as being redundant
and tedious, "Vacancy" received its fair share of positive reviews.
Meanwhile, she starred in "Snow Angels" (2008), playing a woman whose
turbulent marriage to her husband (Sam Rockwell) recalls dark memories from the
past, then followed with "Nothing But the Truth (2008), playing a jailed
journalist who wrote an explosive about a government scandal and refused to
divulge the name of her source when pressured by a special government
prosecutor.
Focusing
her attention on small films and other genres besides horror, Beckinsale
starred in the psychological thriller "Whiteout" (2009), where she
played a U.S. Marshal forced to find a vicious killer in Antarctica before the
sun sets for six months winter. Critics were in agreement that "Whiteout"
was tedious and formulaic, while audiences sought out other entertainment,
resulting in the film's poor showing at the box office. Beckinsale went on to
star opposite Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell and Robert De Niro in the low-budget
drama, "Everybody's Fine" (2009), in which she played a successful
Chicago advertising exec whose father (De Niro) drives across country to make
amends with his four children following the death of their mother. Critics were
mixed, as the film came and went in a limited release. Meanwhile, Beckinsale
returned to larger studio projects with a turn as the girlfriend of a former
smuggler (Mark Wahlberg) forced back into the life to settle a debt in the
above-average action thriller "Contraband" (2012). After reprising
Selene for the critically panned, but commercially successful "Underworld:
Awakening" (2012), Beckinsale was Colin Farrell's fake wife in the
high-profile remake of "Total Recall" (2012)
This article
is taken from Starpulse.com
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