“I wasn't particularly athletic,” she admitted to Women’s Health Magazine. “No one ever thought, ‘I must have Kate on my team.’ To me, you only went to the gym if you were really weird and obsessive. No one I knew in London at the time ever did it….I mean, I could run if a bear were chasing me, but I ran like a girl with my arms [flailing goofily]. The day they asked me to try a few punches [on Underworld], it was dismal. All I could see was despair in the stunt coordinator’s face.”
Well, then give that man an Oscar, because he certainly turned things around for Kate. Not that she’s only kicked ass on screen. In fact, what’s probably most impressive about her career is the range of roles that she’s taken over the years, seemingly just as comfortable doing Shakepeare as she is Dick (as in Philip K.’s Total Recall). As she pointed out to Empireonline, she feels that it’s essential she challenge herself and step out of her comfort zone as often as she can. “As an actor,” she says, “that’s the thing to do. That’s the only rule I’ve had. Sometimes that pays off and sometimes you make a movie that nobody sees, but you still have the experience.”
Of course, the one role that she has returned to more than any other is the vampire Selene of Underworld, and it’s obvious that the franchise is something she’s proud of. “One of the things that’s cool about it is that it isn’t based on an existing comic book,” she relates. “It’s not a remake. It’s not based on a video game, and I think the days when you can get those movies off the ground might be over. We squeaked in last minute. I like the fact that there’s this mythology that a couple of guys thought up on their sofa. Whatever you feel about Underworld, a new idea is always a good thing. Cinema is vastly more corporate, so it’s become, ‘Yes, we will make the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter movie, but we won’t make an original movie.’”
Since 1991, Beckinsale has starred in dozens of movies, ranging from period dramas to thrillers, comedies, straight dramas and and even the 2021 streaming series Guilty Party. Yet through it all, she’s dipped in and out of the action genre, starring alongside Hugh Jackman in Stephen Somers' Van Helsing (2004), the remake of Total Recall (2012), and the high-energy Jolt (2021). Then, of course, there was the Underworld film series, in which she plays the vampire Selene.
Audiences were stunned in 2003 when the original Underworld was released, and there was Kate, dressed in skin-tight leather, leaping off tall buildings in a single bound, kicking some serious ass and offering up plenty of kills while attempting to work with and ultimately protect Scott Speedman’s werewolf (or Lycan) character, Michael. Three years later, Underworld: Evolution was released in which the duo uncovered a vast conspiracy that threatened both of their worlds. The third film, Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (2009), was a prequel, thus involving neither Beckinsale (beyond a cameo) or Speedman; Underworld: Awakening (2012), which was described as follows: “After being held in a coma-like state for 15 years, vampire Selene learns that she has a 14-year-old vampire/Lycan hybrid daughter, Eve, and when she finds her, they must stop BioCom from creating super Lycans that will kill them all;” and Underworld: Blood Wars (2016), which sees Selene trying to protect her daughter from the vampires and werewolves, who believe the youngster’s blood holds the key to creating the perfect weapon.
Regarding her stepping back into the role of Selene after several years, Beckinsale admitted, “It's weird, because I've never done a part multiple times except for this one, and the last time we did it was several years ago. I think every woman who has to put on exactly what they wore years ago, the exact same thing, all they're going to say is, ‘Wow, I look tired,’ you know what I mean? It was great coming back, but you forget how the costume feels after lunch. I remember having a stomach ache for six months on the last one, but it was great.
“The original Underworld was a very special movie for me, because it changed many things in my life – some of them which I'm still reeling over, some of which I haven't gotten accustomed to,” she adds. “Just the fact that I get to run around and be this character is still unbelievable to me; it's so far from what my sensibility is.”
When she did the remake of Total Recall, she was the villain, and one has to wonder if there is a difference kicking ass when you’re playing evil. “Than when you’re earnest and pursuing justice?” she laughs. “Yes, definitely. It was really fun. That's exactly why I was into it, because I never had a kind of mustache twirling villain to play before.”
Interestingly, and despite last year’s Jolt, action roles are still not something she pursues for herself. “I don't and it’s kind of weird I’m doing these films,” she says. “Whenever there was a part that required a little bit of edge or something, and they would go English and soft, they called me. And then Underworld fell into my lap and I didn't know if I could pull it off, because I'm not sort of Action Girl, really, and that took off more than I anticipated. So I really do enjoy doing this, but it isn't really my comfort zone; I get quite anxious about it.
“I know how these movies are perceived,” she muses, “that there's no acting required, which actually isn't the case. It's just a different set of muscles, and I think for an actor — it's all very well to stay in whatever your comfort zone is, but it's best to get out of it. I'm surprised that I get as nervous as I do doing the stunts and action considering that I've done them a few times, but I do every time — it's like suddenly you're told you have to dance, and you're not a dancer. And then it is a bit like riding a bike, but I haven't reached that point where I'm, like, ‘Yes, I can do this.' So those things that scare you and freak you out — I think if you have the opportunity as adults to freak yourself out, it's a good thing.”
Physically, she explains, these types of films are difficult, though not necessarily in the way you’d think: “The thing is, you do these highly choreographed fight scenes, wire stuff and all that, but you don't get bruises from that. Then you literally just run up to a door frame with a machine gun, and your whole leg is black and blue. It's never the impressive thing that gets you hurt. I fell over on the set of Total Recall because my shoes were slippy, so I was rushing out and just flew — you know, not very impressive. But all the stuff that should hurt you, they're all over that. They protect you.”