page_title: Kate Beckinsale
section_title: 2007–2008: Focus on small-scale drama
hierarchical_section_title: Kate Beckinsale / Career / 2007–2008: Focus on small-scale drama
caption_attribution_description: Kate Beckinsale at the Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4.0) London premiere
context_page_description: Kathrin Romary Beckinsale is an English actress and model. After some minor television roles, her film debut was Much Ado About Nothing while a student at the University of Oxford. She appeared in British costume dramas such as Prince of Jutland, Cold Comfort Farm, Emma, and The Golden Bowl, in addition to various stage and radio productions. She started film work in the United States in the late 1990s, and, after appearing in small-scale dramas The Last Days of Disco and Brokedown Palace, she starred in the war drama Pearl Harbor, the romantic comedy Serendipity, and Tiptoes. She followed those with appearances in The Aviator and Click.
  After her role as Selene in the Underworld film series, Beckinsale is known for her work in action films, including Van Helsing, Whiteout, Contraband, and Total Recall. She continues to make appearances in smaller dramatic projects such as Snow Angels, Nothing but the Truth, and Everybody's Fine. In 2016, she received critical acclaim for her performance in the period comedy film Love & Friendship.
context_section_description: Beckinsale then made a return to smaller-scale projects: "My experience is that I sort of stepped away from the independent movies and did a couple of big movies. But that's not necessarily how it's perceived by everybody else, which I do understand." "I enjoy an action movie as much as the next person [but] it's not something that I would like to do solely." She explained that she had originally decided to appear in Underworld because she felt typecast in classical roles — it was "assumed that I use a chamber pot and wear bloomers"—but that her action career "kind of took off a little too much."
  In 2007, Beckinsale starred opposite Sam Rockwell in the independent drama Snow Angels, based on the novel by Stewart O'Nan. The harrowing film, in which she played an overwhelmed single mother, put Beckinsale "in kind of a tough place." "I did have my kid, my husband and, in fact, my ex was around a lot, so it was very nice to come home to my people whom I love." Puig felt "Beckinsale gives her best performance in years" while Richard Corliss of Time described it as "her sharpest work yet." However, Scott felt that "her skill and discipline cannot overcome the sense that she is an exotic species transplanted into this grim ecosystem. Hard as she works to convince us otherwise, it's a stretch to believe that a woman with the kind of poised confidence in her own beauty she manifests would wind up with an underachieving mouth breather like Glenn." The film grossed just $414,404 worldwide.
  Also in 2007, Beckinsale appeared alongside Luke Wilson in Vacancy, a thriller set in an isolated motel. Sarah Jessica Parker was originally cast in the part, but she dropped out before filming began. Bradshaw felt "Wilson and Beckinsale have the chops for scary movies" while Gleiberman noted "Luke Wilson, with his hangdog defensive mopiness, and Kate Beckinsale, all sexy severity, are ideally matched as a couple who hate each other." However, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times was unimpressed, referring to Beckinsale as "the reigning queen of the bland B's." The film was profitable, grossing $35 million worldwide from a production budget of $19 million.
  In 2008, Beckinsale appeared in Winged Creatures, a film about how six different witnesses cope with the aftermath of a shooting. Beckinsale played a waitressing single mother in an ensemble cast which included Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, and Forest Whitaker. "It was a really, really nice experience but it was quick," said Beckinsale of the filming process. "I just felt a bit like I was shot through a cannon." Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times felt she played the role "with a white trash verve" and found her character's "raw ache for that someone with money and respectability is palpable." However, Dargis felt that Beckinsale and her cast mates have a "tough time filling out characters that are at best abstractions of grief and often just clichés." The film received a very limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles; it was released simultaneously on DVD.
  Also in 2008, Beckinsale starred in Nothing but the Truth, as a journalist who refuses to reveal her source. The film, co‑starring Vera Farmiga and Matt Dillon, was inspired by the case of Judith Miller. As part of her research for the role, "I spent some time at The L.A. Times with some female reporters, and I spoke to Judith Miller about her experience....I really researched the hell out of that one and it was an amazingly fulfilling, brilliant experience." Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post asserted that Beckinsale and Farmiga played "two of the most fascinating female movie characters to hit screens in a long while, and they've been brought to life by two gifted actresses, each working at the top of her game." Beckinsale received a Critic's Choice Award nomination for her performance. The film never received a full theatrical release after the distributor filed for bankruptcy and the film has grossed just $186,702 worldwide. "I have prayed—prayed—for film companies to go bankrupt on films I've made, and then this happ
caption: Beckinsale at the London premiere of Live Free or Die Hard in June 2007
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