'Jane Austen Today'

The folks at 'Jane Austen Today' have come up with a real excellent piece on our beloved Kate. Be sure to take a look at the article that of which can be viewed HERE.

Once again, thanks to my reader Dan Murray for the heads up!

Kate Talks 'Snow Angels' & 'Underworld'

Kate recently did an interview with one Rebecca Murray this past week in promotion of Snow Angels. Excerpts of the online article can be found below:

“She's got a job that's not fulfilling. She's solely responsible physically, financially for a child. She has a husband who she's separated from who is kind of like another child almost and not responsible,” explained Beckinsale. “She's kind of responsible for her mother. I think she's very oppressed by her life and feels like she was going to get more out of it than she did and disappointed and struggling. Because she's busy and overwhelmed, her life's kind of like a treadmill that she can't get off. She makes certain choices because she's so consumed in the just next thing all the time.”

- “Then [she] finds herself on a really tough journey, things that are happening to her that are going to spoil everything. I think she's a single mother and I've been a single mother and been under the same pressures that she's been under. It's a very common feeling of loneliness and pressure and responsibility that a lot of people I think feel. It's just that Annie's circumstances ramp up.”

- Thankfully, getting into and then stepping back from this character was something Beckinsale was able to do as needed. “It depends on the scene,” offered Beckinsale. “I think some of the scenes towards the end of the movie, it became like Sam [Rockwell] and I going into our corners like a big boxing match. We'd get our little mouth guards out and take a breather and come back. There's not a lot of joking in that because you really want to keep - when there's a great energy that you have and it's working, you don't want to distract from it. It's very easy to be distracted on a film set. There's so much going on and people running around.”

- Despite the film’s dark qualities, Beckinsale says the set was a happy one - thanks to how writer/director David Gordon Green ran it. “…We had loads of fun. He picked a lot of people who were capable of having a good laugh. That really helped…”

- Also fun for the British actress was the opportunity to not have to look like a movie star. Beckinsale says it was refreshing to take part in a movie that wasn’t all about looking glamorous. “I feel less insecure about looking like sh*t seeing as I can do that just waking up easier than the other thing. I don't know. The whole glamorous thing is puzzling to me. I was monumentally ugly until I was about 15 so I still have that mindset.”

- After completing Snow Angels, Beckinsale stayed busy with a batch of other film projects including Winged Creatures with Dakota Fanning and Forest Whitaker and Nothing But the Truth with David Schwimmer. “In Winged Creatures I play a single mother who's a waitress in a diner who witnesses a random shooting murder and becomes affected with post traumatic stress and starts harming her baby. Another light comedy. Then Nothing But the Truth, I play a journalist who exposes somebody she knows as a covert CIA operative and is taken to the grand jury to reveal the source and won't, [and she] goes to jail. It's not Judith Miller. It sounds like Judith Miller, but it's not actually Judith Miller. Kind of a little bit like that.”

On Underworld:

- And what of those rumors of a cameo in the prequel? “They're shooting it right now. It's in New Zealand so probably not. But it's a family movie,” said Beckinsale. “My daughter's dad is the lead and my husband's producing it so I feel like we've got the family franchise going.”

- It’s definitely unusual that everyone gets along so well, and Beckinsale knows she’s lucky. As for how she did it, Beckinsale said, “I think because I pick great guys. I love Michael. Michael's fantastic. It shouldn't necessarily have gone on and on forever with us, but he is one of my absolutely favorite people ever. I think we both felt that it was really important for Lily, our daughter, to have everybody coming from the same place. He loves her and I love her and Len loves her. Everyone's nice. The guys both get along. I do feel like that's my major achievement of the last decade that my daughter is totally unscathed and great. I am proud of that.”

To read the entire article, please visit THIS link courtesy of About.com

Underworld 4?

Tom Rosenberg of Lake Shore Entertainment

"Q: It’s interesting you talking about trilogies and at what point did you decide to go with straight to videos as opposed to theatrical releases. You’ve got Underworld 3 for instance coming out, is that a theatrical release and how do you go about…?

Tom: It’s a theatrical release definitely. I feel great about that. I think it’s the strongest story that we’ve put together of the three. I think it’s really terrific. I think it leads to a 4th. When we did the 1st Underworld, we imagined three--the 1st one, a sequel and then a prequel. The 3rd is a prequel, so the 4th would carry on where Kate and Scott Speedman left off after 2, so I think this is going to be terrific really this one."

Courtesy of Collider.com

Underworld 3: The Rise of the Lycans

After much discussion as to whether Kate would appear in the third Underworld film - a prequel - the rumours have finally been put to rest. Kate will not be returning for her role as Selene.

"Underworld 3: The Rise of the Lycans" is as I said a prequel and focuses on the forbidden relationship between a Vampire and a Lycan; particularly the story of Lucian and Sonja mentioned in the first film. Michael Sheen (Kate's ex, for those who didn't know) returns for his role as Lucian, while Sonja will be played by English beauty Rhona Mitra.

Though I'm disappointed to see Kate returning not - as I'd imagine most every Kate fanatic is - to the role and franchise which more or less sparked her career, I am glad they choose Rhona Mitra as somewhat of a replacement. She's a good actress and undoubtedly beautiful. Returning as the director is of course Mr. Wiseman.

For more information on "Underworld 3: The Rise of the Lycans" visit the following links:

Black.magic.co.nz

BeyondHollyWood.com

Beckinsale Studies Crowe For Rage

21/07/2005 01:25

British beauty Kate Beckinsale studied the films of Russell Crown to inspire her on-screen rage as Selene in the forthcoming Underworld sequel.

Beckinsale steps back into her leather outfit for a second time to play the vampire warrior in Underworld: Evolution, which is directed by her husband Len Wiseman.

The Aviator star admits she studied Crowe's troubled characters Maximun, Capt Jack Aubrey and Jimm Braddock in Gladitor, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Cinderella Man respectively.

She explains, "I studied Russell and it was immensely helpful."

Beckinsale was keen to stipulate she only studied Crowe's screen persona, and not his volatile real-life antics. The Oscar-winner was arrested last month (JUN05) for allegedly assaulting a New York City hotel employee with a phone handset.

COPYRIGHT: CONTACT MUSIC

Underworld Fan Video's

Today I've got some great Underworld fan videos; please do enjoy!

Both videos are thanks to roberg88 on YouTube.

Really enjoyed this one. Cool music too!



Song: "Wings of Steel" by Collide
Video by Kristin Harris

And here's the second video..



Song: "Going Under" by Evanescence
Video by Lane Gibson.

Chose Underworld to Shock Hollywood

16/08/2007 06:38

British beauty Kate Beckinsale chose to star in vampire movie Underworld D to prove to Hollywood she was more than an English period actress. Beckinsale was sick of being typecast as an English maiden after starring in the 1996 TV adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma and the 1993 Shakespearean movie Much Ado About Nothing. She says, "This is still a complete riot to me that anyone lets me be in an action movie. Before I did Underworld, every time I walked into a room I would think there was a whiff of crumpets and fine china. If the character was a cop or whatever, it was, 'No, Kate's from England.' "So I just wanted to do something with a little bit more edge and then it took off a little bit more than I thought it would."

COPYRIGHT: CONTACT MUSIC.COM

Underworld Bloopers

An oldie, but a goodie.

Yet Another Kate Interview

Kate on the set of Vacancy with director Nimród Antal


"I was the least athletic person I've ever met and I'm a girly-girl," she says. "I like kittens and puppies. None of this was planned. `Underworld' was an exercise to see if I could do it. And it seems to have run away from me a bit." The modestly priced "Underworld" films feature Beckinsale as a Lycra-sheathed vampire who battles werewolves.


The original cleared more $51.9 million at the box office and the sequel $62.3 million. Both have enjoyed a healthy afterlife on DVD, another reason for her ascent to genre royalty. It might also explain why she was chosen to replace "Sex and the City's" Sarah Jessica Parker in "Vacancy," playing the fairer half of an embittered couple whose therapy turns out to be a brush with death. (In an unwitting attempt at method acting, the two reportedly bickered on the set.)


FYI - Kate has dismissed that last sentence ;-)

Beckinsale's Amy and Luke Wilson's David check into a motel, but they aren't supposed to check out. They become aware that they have been cast in a snuff movie. The fear factor for Beckinsale included rats and a tunnel, just perfect for her real-life claustrophobia. "I have two small fears: being in small spaces and somebody vomiting on me," she says.

While she may be the reigning monarch of films you might see at a drive-in, she has had a varied career. She played a Lady covered by pig muck in "Cold Comfort Farm" (1995), a fate-tangled lover in the romantic comedy "Serendipity" (2001) and Ava Gardner in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" (2004). Her thespian chops have been celebrated (by the London Critics Circle for 1998's "The Last Days of Disco" (1998) and reviled (a shared Razzie, the anti-Oscar, for 2001's "Pearl Harbor"). But in terms of capturing an audience on her own, nothing has clicked like "Underworld."

"I think it's a strange fan base in terms of my whole body of work," says Beckinsale, who also played a vampire slayer in "Van Helsing." "I've got some great literary old farts in there like me, and teenage boys in there." And probably the teenage boys' dads, too.



The 33-year-old London native is a regular presence in the "who's sexiest?" ratings of lad magazines. She got her thoroughbred looks from her actor-parents, Judy Loe and Richard Beckinsale, who died when his daughter was almost 6. She also inherited their urge to perform. After an adolescent struggle with anorexia, she tried literature at Oxford and life in Paris but found a home in show business when Kenneth Branagh cast her as Hero in his film version of "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993).

Beckinsale is awaiting distribution of "Snow Angels," a Sundance heavy focusing on her character's frazzled marriage. The film was adapted from a book by Avon's Stewart O'Nan. "It's a very emotionally wrenching movie," she says. "That was one of the reasons it was such a fantastic acting job. I thought the book was a beautiful."

I very much look forward to seeing "Snow Angels". Should be a new turn in her career.

There have been conversations about a third "Underworld," which could reunite her onscreen with her husband, director Len Wiseman. (The two fell in love while shooting the first "Underworld"; Beckinsale left her boyfriend and "Underworld" co-star Michael Sheen, the father of her 8-year-old daughter.) "I'd love to do another project with my husband," she says. "I'd love to get my husband in the same country as me."

One production not in the works is adding to her family. "I think I'm pretty happy with what I've got going on," she says. While "Vacancy" is no manual to restoring marital bliss, Beckinsale says we should recognize the humanity in the story, how an extreme situation can "make you realize how much you do love someone or love them at all."

Tomorrow - My look at Kate's 2006 styles!

Kate Busy!

No surprise here. Kate has been working like a dog lately. I honestly hope she stops to take a break soon. Don't want her to wear herself out!

By RACHEL LEIBROCK

Kate Beckinsale has exactly 12 minutes

Calling from a Montreal movie set, Beckinsale's just finished shooting a scene for her next film, Whiteout, and barely has time to catch a breath.

The 33-year-old actress hasn't even had time to see the finished version of Vacancy, the film for which she's taking a break to chat up. "I'll probably just have to go watch it in the movie theater when I'm done here," she says, words tumbling out in rapid-fire and with a perfectly clipped British accent. Vacancy, which opened Friday, is the story of an estranged couple who, mourning the death of their son, stops at a rundown motel after their car breaks down. What starts out as a night of awkward silences and an uncomfortable bed turns deadly when David (Luke Wilson) and Amy Fox (Beckinsale) discover a stash of videos in their room. They soon realise that the tapes, which show graphic, slasher-type scenes, are actually "snuff films" that depict real murders - and that they may be the next potential victims. What drew Beckinsale to the story, though, was the couple's relationship. "I thought it was really interesting to start a film at the end of a relationship and explore what happens," says the London native who is perhaps best known to many for her role in Pearl Harbor. "It just felt like there was an awful lot of room for actual acting." And, while the motel set sometimes felt a bit claustrophobic ("After hours in that room, we were always happy to get to be chased around the parking lot"), Beckinsale dismisses tabloid reports of any on-set friction with Wilson.

"Luke Wilson's very nice - great sense of humour," she says. "If you're going to be trapped in a motel room with someone on end, it helps if you have someone you like." She is, of course, used to gossipy attention, having endured speculation on everything from her appearance to her relationship with her husband, director Len Wiseman, whom she met on the set of 2003's Underworld. Beckinsale just shrugs most of it off. After all, she says, if you believe everything you read, then "there's this monstrous person who does crazy things and is constantly on the edge of divorce." "It's like, `I don't know who she is, but I'm not dying to hang out with her.'" If anything, Beckinsale's gotten quite adept at staying cool beneath the sweat-inducing spotlight. "It goes with the territory and there's a limit to how much you can complain about it," she says. "This is just the nature of being in the public life."

That said, Beckinsale would like to, thank you very much, focus on her work. Which, by the way, she claims is getting somewhat harder to come by. "It's a well-worn cliche that material for (older women) isn't as exciting as it is for the guys," she says. "And I do feel that there's less available and most movies aren't very good." Her own films notwithstanding, of course. "Oh no! A good deal of mine aren't very good," she disclaims, laughing. "But there were many lovely people involved, so I would never name them." OK, moving on. Despite the dearth of roles, Beckinsale says she's been able to strike a balance. For every stiff-upper-lip part in such films as 1995's Cold Comfort Farm, there's a kick-butt action flick like Van Helsing. For every serious drama (the upcoming Winged Creatures, with Forest Whitaker and Dakota Fanning), there's a vampire tale (Underworld). "It's funny, but working in action films came to me by accident," Beckinsale says. "Before Underworld, I was having trouble getting work that wasn't Oscar Wilde or very starched," she says. "So I thought, I just want to see if I can do (an action film)."

Lol at what I have bolded. That's classic Beckinsale humour and yet another reason why I think she's so great. She's got devilish charms, probably a result of being a Brit ;-)

As such, Underworld became an exercise in skill - both physical and mental. "It's not what comes easy to me - I'm not a tough girl, I'm not terribly athletic," she says. "But it is sort of an acting stretch and I'm still amazed that I can get away with it." Besides, action, drama, whatever - it's good work if you can get it. "I like entertainment just as much as anyone and it's all relevant in terms of a body of work and experience," says Beckinsale, who portrays a U.S. marshal in Whiteout. "It's all part of the learning curve." Before you know it, Beckinsale's 12 minutes are up - on the dot. It's time to return to the set and, then finally, to the trailer that she shares with daughter Lily, 8, while husband Wiseman's off shooting the next Die Hard film. And that's great, she says, because, at the end of a busy day, she's happy with the simple act of being Kate Beckinsale. "I make dinner in the trailer, we have the cats here - it's extremely domestic." And it's a good life, she says. "I try not to complain too much about anything because, honestly, I feel very lucky."

Kate Has Lots of Sex!

Actress Kate Beckinsale knows how to keep her filmmaker husband Len Wiseman happy - by having lots of sex with him. Beckinsale claims the couple, who met on the set of Underworld in 2003, maintain their relationship through mutual compromise.

She says, "Women feel sexy from feeling attractive and desired. Men feel sexy from having lots of sex."