5 Best Kate Beckinsale Movies

The 5 best Kate Beckinsale movies run the gamut when it comes to genre. Excellent turns in horror, drama, romantic comedies and action-thrillers have made Kate Beckinsale an actress with an astounding range who will no doubt wow audiences for many years.

1. “Serendipity” (2001). Ever have a girlfriend who read into everything, no matter how small and insignificant? And that same girlfriend was always fretting about whether or not your relationship was the right thing for her based on the latest reading of the tea leaves? Sucks, doesn’t it? Congratulations, you already know Sara Thomas, the female lead in this Kate Beckinsale movie. Beckinsale embodies Sara to perfection as the flighty, engaged, destiny-obsessed woman who meets Jonathan Trager (John Cusack) while attempting to buy the same pair of gloves. Jonathan takes this as a sign, but Sara won’t be convinced until fate brings them together again. In the meantime, there’s plenty of indecision and worry on Sara’s part, all done in a comical style that makes you laugh at her instead of seething over your own bad memories and throwing the remote at your TV.
2. “Underworld” (2003). How do you avoid the neighborhood gangs of vampires and werewolves who constantly battle for supremacy? Take a different route home? Police escort? Armored tanks in the cul-de-sac? Unfortunately for Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman), he flouted such safety measures and ended up getting tagged as a witness to a deadly duel between the Death Dealers, a group of vampires, and the Lycans, a pack of werewolves. Kate Beckinsale is Selene, a leader of the Death Dealers who feels compelled to save Michael from the Lycans, who have less-than-honorable plans for him. A fast-paced action thriller, “Underworld” is without a doubt the most famous Kate Beckinsale movie and the one that put her on the proverbial map.
3. “The Aviator” (2004). It’s not every day an actor gets to portray a legend of the silver screen, but that’s exactly what happens in this Kate Beckinsale movie. Beckinsale plays iconic actress Ava Gardner in this Howard Hughes biopic, directed by Martin Scorsese and fronted by Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio’s Hughes character romances Beckinsale’s Gardner, one in a long line of celebrity flames for him, and together they exhibit all the passion and chemistry you’d expect from two titans of their time.
4. “Vacancy” (2007). Strong performances from Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson made “Vacancy” a surprisingly strong offering in the horror genre. Eschewing the torture porn that has dominated most of the 2000s, “Vacancy” goes the old-fashioned route by implying most of the gore and brutality rather than showing it on-camera. Beckinsale and Wilson’s role as a married couple whose relationship is on the rocks will have you rooting for them against the motel proprietor (played to sleazy perfection in a standout performance by Frank Whaley).
5. “Snow Angels” (2007). In this gripping drama, Kate Beckinsale plays Annie, a single mother separated from her husband, Glenn (Sam Rockwell). A waitress in a small town, Annie flirts with the boy she used to babysit, Arthur (Michael Angarano), who is also a busboy at the same restaurant. Arthur does everything in his power to stay away from home as much as possible while his parents undergo the beginning stages of what will eventually become a divorce. Annie wants nothing to do with her husband despite his best efforts to fly straight and make his family life better. “Snow Angels” weaves a powerful tale of two desperate characters trying to find their lives and love in the midst of profound family dysfunction.