Kate Beckinsale Says She Was Not ‘Neatly Pregnant,’ More Like ‘Jabba the Hutt’
The late 1990s and early 2000s were a busy time for Kate Beckinsale. Along with being pregnant, the actor was in high demand for projects. She recalled when John Cusack wanted her to co-star in his next film. Though Beckinsale warned the Say Anything star and the studio of her pregnancy, they still wanted to move forward. That is until they saw her.
Kate Beckinsale found international fame in ‘Pearl Harbor’
Before breaking into Hollywood, English actor Kate Beckinsale found success in her home country. She appeared in a few minor roles before making her film debut in 1993’s Much Ado About Nothing. Beckinsale continued to star in British costume dramas, such as Emma, Prince of Jutland, and Shooting Fish.
In 1998, the actor began actively looking for work in Hollywood. Her first role was in the 1998 film The Last Days of Disco opposite Chloe Sevigny. The following year, Beckinsale worked alongside Claire Danes in Brokedown Palace, but the movie didn’t perform well at the box office.
In 2001, Beckinsale played a war nurse opposite Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck in Pearl Harbor. The movie was hugely successful, earning over $400 million and making Beckinsale a household name stateside.
That year, she also co-starred John Cusack in Serendipity. And in 2003, Beckinsale pivoted to action flicks in Underworld as a vampire. She reprised the role in the 2006 sequel, Underworld: Evolution.
Between 2003 and 2006, Beckinsale starred in Tiptoes, Van Helsing, The Aviator, and Click. In 2007, she shifted to small-scale drama projects, including Snow Angels, Vacancy, Winged Creatures, and Nothing but the Truth. The actor has since appeared in Total Recall, Everybody’s Fine, Love & Friendship, and The Widow.
Kate Beckinsale claims she looked like Jabba the Hutt during her pregnancy
In the ’90s, Beckinsale had a longtime relationship with fellow actor Michael Sheen. Their romance spanned nearly a decade and resulted in their daughter, Lily Mo Sheen, born in January 1999.
During that time, John Cusack admired Beckinsale’s work and wanted the actor to co-star in the 2000 film High Fidelity. However, she warned him and the studio that she was pregnant, Beckinsale told Vulture in 2020. Still, the execs were OK with it, assuring her that many actors work during pregnancy.
“I was like, ‘I guarantee you, you’re not going to want me in the movie. I can barely fit through a door or sit in a normal seat,'” she recalled. Beckinsale said she still attended the meeting while looking “more enormously pregnant than most” and “the size of a f***ing beluga whale.” And the studio and Cusack saw for themselves the situation at hand.
“I think they thought I’d be sort of neatly pregnant, where I could stand behind a lamp. But I was Jabba the Hutt,” she joked. The star said they were kind about the issue, but Cusack was still resolved to work with her. That determination resulted in the 2001 romantic comedy Serendipity.
Judging by photos of Beckinsale late in her pregnancy, we can confirm she did not resemble a whale or the blob-like Star Wars villain.
The ‘Underworld’ star remains fit and youthful-looking in her late 40s
The 49-year-old doesn’t seem to have aged a day since starring as Sara Thomas in Serendipity. Though many celebrities turn to cosmetic enhancements to maintain their youthful glow, Beckinsale has avoided them.
The actor credits her ageless appearance to good genetics. “My family is generally on the younger-looking side,” she told New Beauty in 2021.
Beckinsale also loves a good blood facial. “They take your blood [plasma] and reinject it into your skin,” she explains.
Additionally, Beckinsale incorporates scorpion venom into her everyday skincare routine through the Blue Scorpion Peptide, which stimulates natural collagen production and heals damaged skin. The Jolt star also does yoga.
