Kate Beckinsale handles elaborate dialogue with a comic assurance that her action roles seldom need. We rate her most highly in period comedy, where her timing has more to do than her franchise reputation might suggest.
Fi1m perspective
In Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh supply the sparring, while Kate Beckinsale plays Hero. We were won over by the leads’ exchanges, though the physical comedy occasionally made us impatient. It is a film we recommend for its romance, rather than proof that Beckinsale arrived fully formed in her feature debut. Her skill with sophisticated dialogue would become a better reason to seek her out. We rate her most highly when the words require some care and the part gives her room to be funny.
The literary adaptations and period pieces of the 1990s gave way to Pearl Harbor (2001) and Serendipity (2001), then to Selene, the leather-clad vampire warrior of Underworld (2003). The continuing action series made physical capability a defining feature of her screen work. That move can make the costume dramas look like a preliminary stage, something abandoned once Hollywood found a use for her. We think that gets her strengths in the wrong order: the dialogue matters at least as much as the action.
The Aviator (2004), directed by Martin Scorsese, gave her the supporting role of Ava Gardner and made good use of her poise. Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship (2016), with Beckinsale as Lady Susan Vernon, offers the clearer guide to her comic abilities. Her timing is a reason to watch, and the Jane Austen adaptation gives her facility with sophisticated dialogue a worthwhile outlet. We would choose it before the action films when introducing someone to her work.
The frustration is how unevenly those skills have been called upon. Pearl Harbor helped establish her as a Hollywood lead, but met mixed or poor reviews. We would not dismiss her action work, though physical capability can secure repeat employment without giving comic timing much exercise. We would welcome another substantial comedy before another assignment in leather.
Biography
Kate Beckinsale is an English actress. Born Kathrin Romany Beckinsale on 26 July 1973 in Chiswick, London, she is the daughter of actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe. While studying French and Russian literature at New College, Oxford, she made her theatrical film debut as Hero in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
She left Oxford to focus on acting and appeared in the title role of the 1996 BBC adaptation of Emma. Beckinsale gained wider recognition in films including Pearl Harbor (2001), The Aviator (2004) and Click (2006). She is known for portraying Selene in the Underworld series (2003–2016) and has also starred in action films such as Van Helsing (2004) and Total Recall (2012).
