Summary
- Kate Beckinsale initially had reservations about taking on the action-heavy role in Underworld due to people not perceiving her as an action star.
- Beckinsale reveals that it took a lot of mentoring in order to be ready to play Selene, recalling that she could barely run or throw a punch at first.
- Beckinsale’s convincing portrayal of Selene as a commanding warrior with physical prowess was crucial to the success of the Underworld franchise and her involvement has been instrumental in the franchise’s longevity.
Underworld star Kate Beckinsale admits that she wasn’t a natural when it came to being an action star, recalling how she prepared for her role as Selene. Released in 2003, Underworld stars Beckinsale as a vampire assassin who finds herself caught in a war between vampires and Lycans, a species of werewolf. Despite lackluster reviews from critics, the film would prove more popular with audiences, and Beckinsale would return as Selene for four sequels.
In a recent interview with Yahoo! to celebrate Underworld‘s 20th anniversary, Beckinsale recalls having reservations about taking on the action-heavy role. While the physicality of playing a character like Selene was daunting at first, the actor clearly picked things up quite quickly. Check out Beckinsale’s comments about taking on the role below:
“I’d be in America for a while and occasionally going up for parts [like] a cop or somebody tougher, and people would be like, ‘Oh, but she’s a little Jane Austen-y and she’s very period, and a bit fragile. Oh, I thought, ‘I can’t have that.’
“And then suddenly I got sent this script and I also thought, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I could do that. I’ve never even thought about being that sort of person.
“It was really frightening because I had never fired a gun before. I ran like a girl. I mean, it was a disaster. I really had to be mentored into that. I remember the stuntmen being super horrified. [They’d say], ‘Throw a few punches.’ They were like, ‘Oh my god. This is gonna take a minute.’”
Kate Beckinsale’s Impact On Underworld Explained
A franchise like Underworld really wouldn’t work without Beckinsale nailing it as an action hero. Much like Milla Jovovich and the Resident Evil franchise, Underworld very much hinges on its female lead character being able to convincingly hold her own against terrifying monsters and formidable enemies.
Part of why Selene excels as a protagonist is her commanding presence on-screen. Her character has a reputation as a warrior within the world of the Underworld movies, and Beckinsale not being able to capture that element of physicality would ultimately see the whole premise fall apart. Regardless of how well she plays the quieter, more emotionally scenes, not looking convincing while firing a gun, running, or throwing a punch would just shatter the illusion of the entire movie.
Although the dark, monster-filled world of the Underworld franchise is a big reason for its appeal, it’s the characters that ultimately make this world compelling. Selene is one of the few figures to appear in all five movies in the franchise, and it’s hard to imagine the franchise going on as long as it has without Beckinsale’s involvement. Beckinsale proved so adept at embodying an action hero that, following Underworld, she would take on a number of other action-heavy roles.
Source: Yahoo!
