Kate Beckinsale posted this absolutely AMAZING throwback photo on her Instagram yesterday. On the left is a throwback pic to when Kate and Michael Sheen welcomed their daughter Lily into the world in 1999, then on the right is a modern recreation of the photo. Sheen and Beckinsale were together for the better part of a decade, and while they both moved on to other relationships, they stayed close for the sake of their daughter. And it warms my heart. The recreation photo made me laugh, mostly because of Sheen’s expression.
Beckinsale is out and about these days because she’s promoting Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship, an adaptation of an unfinished Jane Austen manuscript. Stillman reunited Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny from his (largely under-appreciated) film The Last Days of Disco. Beckinsale recently sat down with The Telegraph for a chat about the film and more:
Living in LA: “I remember someone saying to me that if you’ve lived for five years away from where you came from you’re never completely at home anywhere and I do feel a bit like that. I’m very familiar now with Los Angeles and America but I still feel one hundred per cent a foreigner here, and then I go back to London and I don’t feel completely un-foreign there. I feel intensely old when I get there and all the shops have changed on Chiswick High Road, for instance. And I went to John Lewis and there was not one old lady in a cardigan, even in the haberdashery section. Everyone was young and trendy and it was a whole different vibe. Where are those old ladies now?”
Returning to period films: “It felt very familiar. It’s back to what I originally started out doing, because when I started acting if it wasn’t Shakespeare or Chekhov or Henry James or some kind of period thing then I wasn’t doing anything else.”
The innate sexism of Hollywood: “I think women, whether they are managers, agents, actresses or directors are used to having to filter their opinions in a way that doesn’t seem combative or that’s palatable in a way I don’t think men have to. You rarely hear a man described as ‘difficult’, which a woman is if she has an opinion that is not popular.”
On her relationship with Michael Sheen: “We’re very lucky. I spent nearly 10 years of my life with Michael. I don’t think I’ve got horrible taste and I really value the friendship I have with him and the fact that he’s Lily’s dad.”
They’ve been looking at colleges for Lily: “Being the mother of a teenager does free you up a bit. A lot of my career has been based on what stage Lily is at, where I can be and whether it would be appropriate to bring her or not. All that is now becoming less of a constraint.”
I like what she says about the innate sexism, and she points out a problem with the structure of a male-dominated hierarchy too. It’s not just about the actresses, it’s about the minority of women (and minority women) in positions of management being treated differently and having to moderate their thoughts, ideas and words to make themselves more palatable to men. And does she still feel like a foreigner in America? But she’s been living in America for more than a decade! You’re one of us, Kate!
Photos courtesy of WENN.
That picture is amazing.
I know. In a million years I’d never be able to get my teens to recreate any of their baby photos.
It’s TOO funny! Our son would never go for it, but I NEED to try it with our daughter. I can imagine we’d be ROTFL!
Fam!, this lady has done a lot of little things to her face !!!! ( And for what? more Underworld Movies? and the opening of an envelope?) but that photo is HILARIOUS!!
Seriously. Maybe that’s the nanny in the 1999 photo.
I think she already had a nose job in the 1999 photo,
I don’t care what she has had done, they did a great job. I think she is beautiful. I don’t mind plastic surgery if the finish product is not over done or doesn’t do much to enhance your beauty. Yeah, I’m looking at you Blake.
She is really really beautiful.
Yes, she does look amazing! And I’m a huge Underworld fangirl. 🙂
Agree on her sexism statement and also on what she says about Sheen. They are friends and I believe it. She is not saying it for PR sake
I still think about how he set her up on Punk’d. Funny.
What drives me batty is how much men complain that women are fragile and emotional creatures, yet they have no idea how much we censor ourselves so we don’t offend their sensibilities.
I know. If is amazing how my male counterparts needs constant pampering and validation when their work is completely inadequate, flat out wrong or not to to the standards of what they paid quite well for. When I do not give it to them, I am volatile.
I like Michael Sheen but that man has been punching way above his weight for decades. He must have some ridiculously good moves.
He’s old now, but he was younger he was really good looking, and he looks pretty good now too. And he’s charming as hell. I’d also say Michael and Sarah Silverman are on the same level lookwise.
Really?! I find him so sexy. He has presence.
I think you have to see him in action.
He’s attractive when he polishes himself up, which he rarely does. Plus he’s witty, smart, charming, an amazing actor, supposedly a great guy…Beckinsale is very pretty but she’s not the most interesting or talented person. Rachel McAdams is pretty bland too.
She’s actually highly intelligent and supposedly has a very wicked, dry sense of humour which she has had to sensor a lot because people would see stuff in print or hear it our of context and get offended. Just because she’s a certain type of pretty it doesn’t mean she’s bland, unintelligent or boring.
Can you ever feel at home when you move somewhere as an adult? Really truly at home?
I recently moved away from my home town, and while I haven’t been long enough in the place I live now, I can’t really imagine it will ever feel like my hometown felt. Like, back home I grew up next to people whose grandparents grew up next to my grandparents. I will never have roots that deep here. I think you can be completely comfortable where you live, but part of you always remains a foreigner.
I don’t know. My husband has now been in his “new” city almost as long as he was in his hometown as a kid and he feels very much at home in both. Maybe that’s rare.
I have only been away from my home city for 5 years — and we just made a short move from city to suburbs — and when I go back now I feel like a stranger because so much has changed — McMansions! Chain stores! — even in that short time.
At 22, I moved from Australia to Canada. This year marks 20 (!!!) years – and while Australia will always be my home (as in, where I am from), Canada is now home-home…… Does that even make sense?
It’s hard to describe, but with time, Australia feeling like home has become less and less, whilst my feelings on being Australian/where I am from have not changed – it’s part of who I am. But now, I always look forward to coming home (Canada) after visiting Oz. Like I said.. hard to describe. Ha.
Deep thoughts. My experience has been the exact opposite, I always felt like an outsider where I grew up and having moved 15 years ago at age 28 I’ve always felt like I belong here since day one. I wonder if a great deal of it has to do with the person, where they are from and where they are going to, coming from, etc.
That or I’m a huge weirdo which is HIGHLY likely. Lol.
That’s how I feel about where I live now. I first came here when I was in college. We had done a visitation at a college down the road and I wasn’t really feeling it. At the last minute my dad suggested we stop in this town on our way home. We were halfway through the university when I knew I was home. I moved away after graduation and then moved back with my husband about 10 years ago. This feels more like home than where I grew up or any other place I’ve lived. Sometimes, you just find the right place for you.
This made me like her more. The John Lewis story made me smile and boy, do I feel her on the “nowhere feels like home” point. I spent most of my formative years in another country, although it never really felt like home, since I was treated absolutely horribly due to being American (nice thing to take out on a child who isn’t old enough to understand). But even so, when we came back to the US, it felt even more foreign. Even though it was my “home”, we’d left when I was three-I barely had any memories of it at all. The other country was the only home I’d ever known. And she’s right–I don’t really feel “at home” anywhere.
I agree with Kate. I grew up in the Chicago area from ages 0 to 17. For college, I moved to LA and have been here except for four years of my adulthood when I lived in the Southwest. I’m 39 now and don’t feel like a Chicagoan, but I don’t feel quite like an Angeleno either. I will never root for the Lakers, for example–something in my Chicago roots won’t let me. But I’m also very defensive about L.A., which is mischaracterized all the time. Anyway, I feel like I’m the domestic equivalent of a third culture kid.
@WTW: I’m in the same boat, but in reverse: When I was 15 I moved from Los Angeles to the Midwest (west Michigan), and now I feel like I don’t really belong to either place. I’ve now lived in the Midwest more than half my life, but there are things that are still not ‘home.’ Hunting and seeing wildlife in my front yard still seems so exotic to me. The Midwest accent is still grating to my ears. I miss the smell of the ocean. People here are always surprised that I speak Spanish. But, I do love how friendly people are here, and blue skies, and MOST of the seasons (I will NEVER love winters).
@Scarlet I definitely don’t miss Midwestern winters! Oddly enough, I’ve seen a lot of wildlife in L.A. I lived in Glendale and saw deer every fall. Now, I’m in Northeast L.A. and have seen Bobcats, coyotes, raccoons and possum, all of which freak out my poor dog.
Interesting thoughts – I’m moving from the Toronto area to Victoria B.C. next week and because I’ve visited Victoria all my life (first family, then BF) it all feels sort of like I’m moving home. I too felt like an outsider in the town where I grew up but more at home in Victoria, due in no small part to moving there to be with my guy.
Love & Friendship isn’t based on one of Austen’s unfinished novels, but is based on her novella, Lady Susan, written when she was very young, which was unpublished during her lifetime.
I’ve always liked Kate Beckinsale. I know she over dresses for events (I’d probably be accused of the same) and has messed with her face, but she’s always had a like ability factor for me.
She’s also my husband’s number one pick of all time. He says it’s the Underworld movies. Who knows, I can’t make it through that kind of stuff.
Me too, and I am not the kind of person who fangirls over celebrities. For some reason, she has always struck me as the kind of woman who would be a great friend and confidante. Her blunt comments on sexism and the functional relationship she has with her ex have only further cemented my opinion.
I like her too. She seems pretty “normal” considering. She’s on my list of people I would love to sit and have a beer with.
My husband also has her on his list. I’ve watched the Underworld movies with him, and while I like that kind of stuff, I think they’re not that great. I believe his biggest motive is her in shiny patent leather, haha! She was fun in Van Helsing and she does period pieces pretty well.
I am usually always overdressed for occasions, but come on, how often do you get a chance to drag out the big stuff? Kate gets more than the rest of us, sure, but if you’re going to do it, go big or go home I say.
She’s my husband’s number one as well. I think it’s because of the movie Serendipity with John Cusack, but he won’t admit it.
I like her lots too…..even though I haven’t seen a ton of her movies. Maybe because I really like the movie Laurel Canyon and she was good in that.
I like her too. She is very charming and funny in interviews, and while her career isn’t huge, she’s been good in several smallest movies I have seen.
If I looked like her and had access to amazing clothes, I’d go overboard with it sometimes too!
She’s not American? wow. just wow
Always nice to see divorced/split couples making it work for the kids’ sake. I really admire that.
I love MIchael Sheen but he is such a dog!
Glad they were able to make that awesome pic though.
That picture is life. I love it! Good for them. I admire the strength and selflessness it took for them to be great co-parents and beyond that, friends. It really shows what great parents they are and how powerful their connection is/was. Congrats. And wow, she is a smokin’ hot woman. I’d hit it.
I love that picture and love Kate too. I’m not sure why she started messing with her face. She was soooo attractive in the 90’s/00’s and still would be without all the fillers. I guess that’s LA though. She should have stayed in London.
agree, always loved her, especially back when i was a teen, the 00’s were her UK film heyday. she did so many great movies, most little known to us audiences, ie emma, cold comfort farm, haunted, much ado…ah, feeling nostalgic and somewhat old 🙂
Wow her original face!
Love the throwback!
Like Kate, i have been here for over 20 years and I feel and am a foreigner.
I just have this feeling she and Ben Affleck reconnected (he called her) after her split was announced and are having divorced parents sleepovers LOL
Hilarious! But I do think/hope she has better taste. Actually, I think she is quite bright and interesting (didn’t she go to oxbridge?), not that you would know from the films she has been in. I know she overdresses in a dynasty kind of way and has had work done, but from interviews she seems fun and I LOVE the way she seems to get on with Micheal’s partner, she seems like a girls’ girl.
That would be an …interesting coupling. He doesn’t seem like her type but who knows.
I wonder why she and Len Wiseman never had kids.
Fertility problem? No desire because of her career? Body image issue because of her former anorexia? No desire because of a exclusive love for her daughter ? No desire of Wiseman?
Lol.
My daughter was born June 9, 1999 so she’s coming up on 17 as well. Maybe we can get her to recreate newborn pix…
Lovely photo.