Conversations with Kate Beckinsale

Career Q A with Kate Beckinsale. Moderated by Dave Karger. Kate Beckinsale early established herself playing in classic and literary adaptations, some with an Austen pedigree. While still a student at Oxford she played opposite Robert Sean Leonard as Hero in Kenneth Branaghs version of Much Ado About Nothing. She also won the title role in the widely admired British miniseries adaptation of Jane Austens Emma and particular notice for her performance in John Schlesingers version of the Emma update, Cold Comfort Farm. It was from Cold Comfort Farm that I thought Kate would be perfect for the Charlotte character in The Last Days of Disco, Stillman says, and her role in the Schlesinger film was essentially Austenderived. It was the first time I wrote a part with a particular actor in mind.