KATE BECKINSALE - BECKINSALE CHOSE UNDERWORLD TO SHOCK HOLLYWOOD

BECKINSALE CHOSE UNDERWORLD TO SHOCK HOLLYWOOD

British beauty KATE BECKINSALE chose to star in vampire movie UNDERWORLD to prove to Hollywood she was more than an English period actress. Beckinsale was sick of being typecast as an English maiden after starring in the 1996 TV adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma and the 1993 Shakespearean movie Much Ado About Nothing. She says, "This is still a complete riot to me that anyone lets me be in an action movie. Before I did Underworld, every time I walked into a room I would think there was a whiff of crumpets and fine china. If the character was a cop or whatever, it was, 'No, Kate's from England.' "So I just wanted to do something with a little bit more edge and then it took off a little bit more than I thought it would."