Kate Beckinsale Comic Con Interview, WhiteOut

Posted by: Michael

We had a chance to sit down and listen to Kate Beckinsale talk about her new thriller WhiteOut at a press junket at ComicCon! Kate Beckinsale has been set to star in and Dominic Sena has been set to direct the action thriller "Whiteout". The film will be the first to go into production under Joel Silver’s newly reorganized Dark Castle Entertainment, which gives Silver an autonomous role in green-lighting and financing films produced under the banner. "Whiteout", which is based on Greg Rucka’s 1999 Eisner Award-winning comic book miniseries of the same name, is being produced by Joel Silver and Susan Downey, with Steve Richards, Don Carmody and Rucka serving as executive producers and David Gambino co-producing. Sena will direct the film from a screenplay written by Jon & Erich Hoeber.

In "Whiteout", Beckinsale will star as Carrie Stetko, the lone U.S. Marshal assigned to Antarctica, whose investigation of the continent’s first murder draws her into a shocking mystery. Now, with only three days until winter, Carrie must solve the crime before Antarctica is plunged into darkness and she is stranded with the killer.

Dominic Sena previously directed such films as the suspense thriller "Swordfish", starring John Travolta, Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman; the action thriller "Gone in Sixty Seconds", teaming Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie; and the controversial drama "Kalifornia", starring Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis. Here is what she had to say:

I understand the character's a little bit different from the comic book.

Kate Beckinsale: A little bit. But the whole comic book was fairly different. I found out that my costar was actually, should have been a woman. You know, the masked character is a chick in the comic book. But they wanted her to be very real and earthy and they gave her a big bad story of terrible things that have happened to her and she's gone out to kind of forget about it. You know, you can understand why somebody might go out there. We just went to Manitoba. God knows what it would be like in the North Pole.

What was the attraction of this film?

Kate Beckinsale: Well, I just—it was actually quite nice to do one of these type of movies. I love genre movies. I love other kinds of movies, too, but I do like these kind of movies. And it was nice to play someone who was a human, actually, for a change. You know, usually I'm grappling with how to make this realistic when she's been alive for 700 years and all that. And it was actually—it was—I thought it was an interesting story. I thought it was an interesting character.

Was there a physical challenge at all for you?

Kate Beckinsale: It wasn't so much—there wasn't as much action as I'm used to. There wasn't weapons and fighting as much. It was more just the conditions were really different, and especially the first few weeks we were actually in—it was like minus 58 where we were. Which, you know, I'm thinking, "I did Van Helsing in Prague and that was cold, and I did Underworld in a latex suitAnd it was just completely different from that.

How so?

Kate Beckinsale: Well, first of all when we arrived in the hotel they gave us sort of a telephone directory of "these are all the different ways that you can die of being cold," because they have to give you, like, you know, if you got ill. Yeah. So, you know, you can get frostbite and hypothermia where your fingers start falling off. And if you've ever had an alcoholic drink in your life, basically forget it, you know. So half the crew were freaking out. All the crew were freaking out.

And then just, they do, you know, in the movie a lot of guys out there—you know when you see movies and they've got, like, the frost in their beard and it always looks a little bit fake. So I got on the set I'm like, "Oh, where has the director gone?” And they’d done makeup tests on the whole crew. But it was real. And my hair. Like, I had a bob in the movie, and my hair would, just from breathing on it, would freeze into a white point. And I'd never known anything like that. So really what was tiring was every time you get inside anywhere you had to take all the clothes off, otherwise you overheat. And then to go back outside—so most of the movie was just pulling on five pairs of pants and pulling off five pairs of pants.

The severed fingers scene was nasty.

Kate Beckinsale: Yeah, that was a nasty scene. I mean, I think I lost three in the end. It wasn't just one.

Do you have a favorite scene in the movie?

Kate Beckinsale: I have seen absolutely no footage at all. I even was late behind stuff, behind the train and missed the clip. So I don't know. But the Whiteout stuff is really cool, and it was great to actually do that there, you know.

What else are you working on?

Kate Beckinsale: I've done a few movies. I did a movie called Snow Angels with Sam Rockwell and David Gordon Green. It was at Sundance. I did a movie called Winged Creatures with Forest Whitaker and Guy Pearce and Dakota Fanning. And that I think is going to be really good.

What is that ?

Kate Beckinsale: That's an independent movie about a bunch of people who are in a diner, and actually a waitress, and somebody comes in and does a—basically kills a bunch of people and then kills himself. And you follow all of the different people in the movie. So kind of a light—light, very fun. Big hoot. And now I'm going to do a movie called Nothing But the Truth with Rod Lurie directing.

He's written an amazing role. It's actually—it's sort of semi-based on a true story. It's basically about a woman who won't give up her source. She's a journalist. Any more points? Yeah, she's a journalist and she gets involved in a whole situation where she won't give up her source and ends up going to jail.

What attracted you to Whiteout? Did you read the graphic novel or the script first?

Kate Beckinsale: I read the script first and then graphic novel. I just—I like—I don't know, I have an eight-year-old daughter. I like to be part of the—you know, there's some strong women's roles out there. And, you know, it seems to be that a lot of the strongest women's roles are actually in the genre movies, you know, weirdly enough. So, you know, I really like to do that. And she had some complicated stuff going on. She had, like, a really—a good story. It wasn't just running around and skidding on some ice. Like, she—the whole fingers and all the reasons that she's actually come out there I thought were interesting.

When you were shooting in those conditions, were you up there by yourself or with your family?

Kate Beckinsale: My kid always comes with me. Len was busy with this little movie that he was doing.

Do they watch your films.

Kate Beckinsale: She won't watch any of them. Not any.

Not even Van Helsing or Underworld?

Kate Beckinsale: No. We tried to actually—we were just on holiday and it was on Pay Per View, Van Helsing, and she's like, "No. No. No, no." She likes Some Like It Hot, is her favorite movie.

What about Click? Has she seen Click?

Kate Beckinsale: She's in Click for a split second. She's furious because her line was cut. So Click is a totally sensitive subject in our house.

Women in Hollywood complain that there aren't enough roles. How are you able to find the work?

Kate Beckinsale: Well, you know, I think it's hard. You know, not every movie is necessarily the one that you, you know, have dreamt of your entire life, and you try and make as much of, you know, what you get out of it. You don't necessarily get offered absolutely everything there is. So from what you come into contact with, I just—I think it feels like it's a short time, shooting. I realize now, I'm married to a director, he's on the movie for 18 months. But as an actor you're on a relatively short time. But it's really intense so you do have to, you know, just go with things that you feel—I don't know. It's different things that draw. The things that you think, "This is very entertaining, and I like the idea of how entertaining this is." And then there's other things like Winged Creatures which just is a totally different speed. And I do really enjoy it. That's more where I've come from. So this to me is still a complete riot that anyone lets me be in an action movie. I still think it's funny.

I'd just come off Underworld, too, and it was weird because when I first did Underworld, I couldn't—you know, every time I walked in a room I think there was a whiff of crumpets and fine china and, you know. If the woman was a [cop] [if the woman was] it was, "No, it's Kate's, you know, [indiscernible]." So I thought, "I really want to do something with a little bit more edge." And then it kind of took off a bit more than I thought it would. And so Click, I just wanted to kind of play a nice human, you know, warm. And Adam is my second favorite person I've ever met in my life, so.

Is there a role you would like to do?

Kate Beckinsale: Is there role I'd like? Oh my god, I haven't even started. Yeah, very much. I've been looking for a comedy that I think is funny, but so many—and, you know, very often—it's like with Click. It may be a comedy but the woman's not that funny, you know what I mean. So I'd really love to—I love Noel Coward and that kind of humor. So I'd love something that has a real kind of intelligent wit to it. That's what I'd love to do.

You've always done genre films, though. All the way back to Cold Comfort Farm. You were playing a ghost, right?

Kate Beckinsale: No. Haunted I played a ghost, yeah. I suppose so. I didn't know—I hadn't even heard the word "genre" at that point.

How do you balance this incredible personal life you have, marriage, child, career?

Kate Beckinsale: It is hard. I mean, I think any working mother will tell you that what gets kind of—falls by the wayside, you know, are the hours of sleep that you wish you had and, you know, all that. But I feel incredibly lucky and blessed, but I do sometimes feel like that exorcist lady.