Oscar Dark Horse Kate Beckinsale on Art of Scheming in ‘Love & Friendship’
TheWrap Magazine: “She’s extraordinarily flawed but she’s not being a bitch for no reason,” actress says of her character in Jane Austen adaptation
Several years ago, Kate Beckinsale got what she refers to as “a really odd phone call” from her agency saying that director Whit Stillman wanted her for a movie about Martians.
The dark comedy set in 18th-century England is based on Jane Austen’s novella “Lady Susan,” which was unpublished in the author’s lifetime; it gives Beckinsale a chance to seize the deliciously devious role of a world-class schemer, a woman who’ll go to any lengths to secure a suitable husband for herself and her daughter.
“He would pass out if you tried to have a deep psychological discussion about where your character is coming from,” said Beckinsale, laughing.
“Love & Friendship” also gives Beckinsale another step in a career that has swung from “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Cold Comfort Farm” to “Van Helsing” and the five “Underworld” films — small quiet movies, and big noisy movies.
When I started out in England, we were making mainly literary adaptations of period stories, and when I came to America they said, ‘She’s very fragile and English, we don’t see her as having an edge.’
Ben Affleck Says He Wasn't Aiming for Awards With Old-School Gangster Flick 'Live by Night'
[...] I found people saying, ‘Oh, she’s just tough and scary,’ and I thought, ‘How did the pendulum swing so quickly?’ What I’ve actually gotten to do is straddle the two extremes of what I do, which is quite fun.