Birth Name: Kate Beckinsale
Birthdate: July 26, 1973
Birthplace: London
1-MINUTE RESUME FOR KATE BECKINSALE
As an adolescent, the shy, smart and rather aloof Beckinsale had a difficult time. An A student who won writing contests, she struggled with the death of her father when she was in grade school, and faced a bout with anorexia and a smoking habit. She took up acting as refuge, performing on various London stages and continuing her study of languages at Oxford. It was a tough career choice, but American audiences soon embraced her in Last Days of Disco, Steven Spielberg's The Aviator and cult favorite Underworld.
5 Things:
1. She has a reputation for being "sassy." When a director made her cry during a nude scene, she reportedly got revenge by urinating in his thermos.
2. At New College, Oxford, she was once voted "the sixth most boring person."
3. She suffered from anorexia as a teen.
4. Her stepfather, a director and a fan of LSD, encouraged her to swear.
5. Her grandmother was Burmese.
Quote:
"I had very large teeth and I was really short, like 4 foot 11, until I was 15. If you get to 14 and you're not attractive yet, I feel like you are kind of [messed up] for your whole life. I still have that feeling of not being particularly attractive."
— New York Daily News, Sept. 19, 2003
Family:
Husband: Len Wiseman, director; met on the set of Underworld, married May 9, 2004
Partner: Michael Sheen, actor, born Feb. 5, 1969; met when both were in a British theater production of The Seagull
Daughter: Lily, born Jan. 31, 1999 (father: Sheen)
FILMS
Snow Angels - (2008) - Actor
Vacancy - (2007) - Actor
Underworld: Evolution - (2006) - Actor
Click - (2006) - Actor
Alice Through the Looking Glass - (2004) - Actor
The Aviator - (2004) - Actor
Van Helsing - (2004) - Actor
Underworld - (2003) - Actor
Tiptoes - (2003) - Actor
Laurel Canyon - (2003) - Actor
Pearl Harbor/The Rock - (2002) - Actor
Pearl Harbor/Enemy of the State - (2002) - Actor
Pearl Harbor/Armageddon - (2002) - Actor
Pearl Harbor/Remember the Titans - (2002) - Actor
The Golden Bowl - (2001) - Actor
Pearl Harbor - (2001) - Actor
Serendipity - (2001) - Actor
The Last Days of Disco - (1998) - Actor
Shooting Fish - (1998) - Actor
Brokedown Palace - (1998) - Actor
Cold Comfort Farm - (1996) - Actor
Jane Austen's Emma - (1996) - Actor
Haunted - (1995) - Actor
Uncovered - (1994) - Actor
Much Ado About Nothing - (1993) - Actor
