Kate Beckinsale Kate Beckinsale Kathrin Romary Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is a British actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993) while still a student at the University of Oxford. She appeared in British costume dramas such as "Prince of Jutland" (1994), "Cold Comfort Farm" (1995), "Emma" (1996), and "The Golden Bowl" (2000), in addition to various stage and radio productions. She began to seek film work in the United States in the late 1990s and, after appearing in small-scale dramas "The Last Days of Disco" (1998) and "Brokedown Palace" (1999), she
Kate Beckinsale in the action horror film "Van Helsing". She was "so surprised" to be appearing in her second action film in two years. "It just seemed like a very good role." Beckinsale had just separated from her long-term boyfriend Michael Sheen at the time of filming and appreciated the warm atmosphere created on set by director Stephen Sommers and co‑star Hugh Jackman: "I really did find that working with people like Stephen and Hugh made it possible to get through what I was going through." The film grossed over $120 million at the US box office and over $300 million worldwide,