Celebrity Movie Blog

Who is Kate Beckinsale?

Kate Beckinsale was born Kathryn Bailey Beckinsale on the 26th July 1973 in London, England. She is an actress. She is best known for her roles in the films Pearl Harbour in 2001, Van Helsing in 2004 and Underworld in 2003. In her teens she twice won the W. H. Smith Young Writers' competition, once for three short stories and once for three poems. After a rebellious adolescence, including a period of anorexia and starting a smoking habit, she followed in the footsteps of her parents and began her acting career. Her first role was in One Against the Wind, a television film set in WW2 that was first aired in 1991. She studied at New College, Oxford but she did not finish her degree. One of her most well reviewed roles was as the screen legend Ava Gardner in The Aviator in 2004, the producers said she was the only choice for the role, a great compliment. Surprisingly her first major break was in Pearl Harbour but she only got the role after it was turned down by Charlize Theron. In 2006, Kate was placed at number twenty-three in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World", after being number seventy-one the year before. She has also been placed at number sixteen in Maxim's "HOT 100".