Bio

Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale (born July 26, 1973) is an English actress, known for her roles in the films Pearl Harbor (2001), Van Helsing (2004), and Underworld (2003).Beckinsale was born in London to Judy Loe, a stage and television actress, and Richard Beckinsale, a television actor who died in 1979 at the age of 31. She has a paternal half-sister, Samantha, who is also an actress. Beckinsale's paternal great-grandfather was Burmese, and Beckinsale has said that she was "very oriental-looking" as a child.Beckinsale attended the private Godolphin and Latymer School,and in her teens 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 about World War II that was first aired in 1991. Having gained three language A levels, Beckinsale studied French and Russian literature at New College, Oxford, though she did not finish her degree. She thought that having an academic background studying foreign language and literature would broaden her range of acting roles.



pictures ..for bigger pictures plese klik in small picture

Van Helsing

Van Helsing is a 2004 American action/horror film about vampire hunter Gabriel Van Helsing, written and directed by Stephen Sommers. The film stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale.Based on a version of the character of Abraham Van Helsing from Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, the film also incorporates characters from other works such as the film The Wolf Man into the narrative, and draws particularly on literary classics of the gothic horror canon such as Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein.The film begins in black and white in the fashion of 1950's hammer films. The story opens in Transylvania, 1887, where an angry mob is preparing to storm Dr. Frankenstein's castle, as his infamous reanimation experiment is about to complete. Count Dracula has commissioned the experiment, because he wants to use the monster for an evil scheme. When Dr. Frankenstein refuses to abide, Dracula bites, transforms, and sucks all the blood from his body,causing his death. Immediately afterward, the mob breaks into the castle. Frankenstein's monster takes his "father's" body and runs off to a nearby windmill. Igor, Frankenstein's assistant, accidentally blows his master's location, and the mob follows. The mob burns it down, and the monster and Dr. Frankenstein fall into a cavern below. Dracula and his brides managed to frighten the mob away to watch the horrible end of a perfect plan.

Underworld

Underworld is a 2003 action-horror film about the secret history of vampire and werewolves, where the latter are referred to as "Lycan" as an abbreviated form of lycanthrope. It is the first film in the Underworld series. The main plot revolves around Selene , a vampire "Death Dealer", or one who hunts Lycans, a job she is extremely good at due to her hatred for the whole species, whom she believes to have killed her entire family. She finds herself attracted to a medical intern, Michael Corvin, after saving him from the Lycan master Lucian , and must decide whether to do her "duty" and kill him or to risk her life to save him.Underworld: Evolution is the second film in the Underworld series, following Underworld in 2003. Evolution continues the conflict between vampires and Lycans, also highlighting the beginnings of the feud.Underworld Evolution is an immediate follow-up to Underworld (2003). Therefore, the events of Evolution begin during the same night of the first film's finale, and the next few days after. It is much more action-oriented and violent than its predecessor.

Filmography

2008 Nothing But the Truth
2008 Winged Creatures
2008 April 23rd
2008 Whiteout
2007 Vacancy
2007 Snow Angels
2006 Underworld: Evolution
2006 Click
2004 Van Helsing
2004 The Aviator
2003 Underworld
2003 Tiptoes
2002 Laurel Canyon
2001 Pearl Harbor
2001 Serendipity
2000 The Golden Bowl
1999 Brokedown Palace
1999 Alice Through the Looking Glass
1998 The Last Days of Disco
1997 Shooting Fish
1997 Emma