Even as one of only a handful of female leads to carry a multi-million-dollar film franchise,
Kate Beckinsale still feels unknown or at the very least unappreciated.
Beckinsale is clearly capable of delivering exceptional work, but in spite of what she's
proven she can do with the right script, opportunities to display her dramatic chops have come far
too infrequently.
Here are a few possible reasons why Hollywood isn't offering Kate Beckinsale more opportunities
to shine.
Pearl Harbor was a flop Beckinsale's potential big break for American
audiences ended up a complete disaster.
After a standout performance alongside Claire Danes in 1999's Brokedown Palace, Beckinsale
was poised to really bust out as a leading woman.
But the 2001 period blockbuster Pearl Harbor, which saw Beckinsale playing the love interest
to both Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett, was almost unanimously panned.
Had the film succeeded, or had Beckinsale's performance outshined the production itself,
her career likely would have taken a different path one leading to more high-profile, dramatic
roles.
To make matters worse, after Pearl Harbor stunted Beckinsale's growth as a viable lead
in a big-budget drama, her next film all but stopped her chances of working in the romantic
comedy genre.
No serendipity here The 2001 romcom Serendipity starring Beckinsale
and John Cusack fell flat with critics as well as the general public.
By that point, audiences had suffered through or supported nearly two decades of adorable-yet-hapless
John Cusack characters, and by the turn of the century, the magic had started to wear
thin.
This is not to say either star was particularly to blame for the film's ultimate failure.
Had Serendipity been better, it might have been a perfect pivot for Beckinsale.
Alas, it was not to be.
"I have to give it all up now, don't I?"
Married to Underworld After she was tapped to play Selene in 2003's
Underworld, Beckinsale hit it off with director Len Wiseman.
The two became romantic, and were married within two years.
Now more than a decade later, Wiseman and Beckinsale have worked on multiple films together,
including several in the Underworld franchise, before their split in 2016.
The Underworld films in particular cost relatively little to produce, do well at the box office
and have been quite profitable, but they aren't exactly considered great cinema.
So while the franchise has been rolling along, Beckinsale's career has suffered.
Amongst audiences, directors, and casting agents, she may be too closely associated
with Selene from Underworld for them imagine her in any other role.
"Imprisonment for all time."
Ageism Unfortunately, Beckinsale is in a kind of
acting purgatory simultaneously too old and too young to snatch up the most desirable
roles in the industry.
While male leads can work well into their 50s and 60s, female leads are more often than
not left out of roles once they pass 40.
As it stands, Beckinsale had only one credit in 2017, a drama called The Only Living Boy
in New York alongside Pierce Brosnan, Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Nixon, and Callum Turner.
In the movie, Beckinsale's character plays a mistress who begins an affair with her lover's
son.
Working with established talent and rising stars can only be good for Beckinsale's continued
success in Hollywood, but this doesn't change the fact that she was chosen for her role
precisely because of her age and her looks.
"Is that kind of vulgarity really necessary?
"What kind of vulgarity would you prefer?"
Sexism In 2016, Beckinsale appeared on The Graham
Norton Show and revealed some disparaging jabs director Michael Bay made at her while
he was on the press junket for Pearl Harbor.
She said: "When we were promoting the film, Michael
was asked why he had chosen Ben [Affleck] and Josh [Hartnett], and he said, 'I have
worked with Ben before and I love him, and Josh is so manly and a wonderful actor.'"
But Bay apparently didn't share the same thoughts about Beckinsale's ability.
She continued: "Then when he was asked about me, he'd say,
'Kate wasn't so attractive that she would alienate the female audience.'"
In a 2001 interview with Movieline, Bay confirmed his sentiments, saying of why he cast Beckinsale:
"I didn't want someone who was too beautiful.
Women feel disturbed when they see someone's too pretty."
Regardless of what Bay thinks of her appearance, Beckinsale has frequently been typecast for
her good looks and physique.
It's a double edged sword.
Whether in recent horror films like The Disappointments Room or Stonehearst Asylum, or action flicks
such as Total Recall or the Underworld series, she's not exactly doing Shakespeare in the
park.
Having played so many of these types of characters over the past 20-plus years, it's easy to
see how she's been overlooked for... well...
everything else.
"You like it?"
"Yeah, it's funny."
A turn to TV The average cost to produce and market a wide-release
film has skyrocketed over the last 30 years, and studios are no longer willing to take
risks on small-budget indies or period dramas without major star power.
Unfortunately, these are precisely the types of films in which Beckinsale has excelled.
With the big screen less hospitable than ever, it's unsurprising that Beckinsale turned to
TV.
In 2018, she was announced as the star of the limited-run Amazon series The Widow, about
a woman drawn into a dangerous quest after spotting her supposedly late husband on the
news.
Clearly, an actress of Beckinsale's talent and diverse résumé is always just the right
script away from a comeback.
Time will tell if this is it.
Thanks for watching!
Click the Looper icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!