Caffeinated Clint
Moviehole caught up with the beautiful Kate Beckinsale (“Underworld”, “Van Helsing”) to discuss her new film, the icy-thriller “Whiteout”.
Kate do you feel comfortable in these strong female roles?
I do feel, in the beginning of my career when I very first started, I was so young, that there had been Sigourney Weaver and then there was nobody else. When I was eighteen, nineteen years old, you didn’t read a script that had, you know, an action movie, a big commercial movie that had a central female character who wasn’t being rescued or saved and was actually, you know, driving the action. And I remember I used to be quite, sort of, like, “They should do that.” And now that they do, I feel really privileged. I’m one of the few people who gets to, you know, gets to do that. I do feel good about that.
Can you tell us about your character in “Whiteout”?
She’s somebody who was in the police force in Miami, and after her partner has betrayed her terribly, she loses a lot of confidence in her judgment of people and decides to take a job that’s completely far away from everything that she’s been involved in and isn’t very taxing. She’s not really expecting to see any real service. She’s going to file paper clips and do inventory, and that’s it. And then they find a body on the ice in sort of somewhat mysterious circumstances, and she has to step up and actually do her job. Yeah.
You grew up in England and I know it can be cold there, but it’s nothing like in this movie was it?
No, but I really thought it was going to be like that. I thought, “Oh, all these American actors, and they’ve been growing up in LA, and I’ll show them how to deal with the cold.” And I couldn’t even get a word out the first day. I stepped out of the trailer, and my whole throat closed. Nothing like I’d ever experienced, ever.
How beautiful was it filming in Canada?
Beautiful. It really was gorgeous. And we had a lovely time. My daughter came with me, my mum was there. And my mum ended up extreme-tobogganing on her sixtieth birthday, which I thought was kind of a… That’s an action thing to do. It was amazing. And the sunrises and sunsets were just beautiful.
How was it working with Gabriel Macht & Alex O’Loughlin?
Gabriel, Alex and Columbus were, and I were just this extremely tight group on the set because it was quite difficult. It was quite grueling, and we did get beaten up every day. And you really want to feel that you’ve got people around you who you can have a good laugh with and have your back. And I just got so lucky. I got the best boys ever. And we’ve really stayed… I mean, Columbus and I’ve been on a holiday with our families together and had Christmas together and… So they’re really, they’re very strong relationships, and they’re all really silly and funny.
How was it working with Dominic Sena?
He was great. Well, he has a really good eye for what he wants. It was a very chaotic set with snow and all sorts of things that could go wrong. And it was great that he knew exactly, visually, what he was after, all the time. We didn’t have one of those relationships of actor and director where you’re talking constantly about the character because, one, I was in a parka with goggles and a snow machine and wind machine and…it was a bit more of, “I think the director’s the one in the red jacket. I’m not sure, but, hi!” You know. And he would have a megaphone. So it wasn’t as intimate as perhaps an independent drama would feel, the relationship. But he always was incredibly good-humored, and it was really nice to have him there.
How involved was Joel Silver, and how important was he in convincing you to accept the role?
Totally. Joel was really the reason I got involved at all, because Joel’s enthusiasm is just, I mean, famously, incredibly infectious. So he was the one that was really pumped about the idea of doing the very first murder in Antarctica and all of that, so he was really what got me involved in the first place. And then he was there in the beginning, and then I think it got really cold, and he suddenly had to go and do something else. But he called up on the phone a whole lot. Yeah, he was great. I love Joel.
Are you curious to go to Antarctica? At least visit it?
I mean, not so much. I feel like, you know, I’m very happy… If you went, I would really like to see your photographs. But I’d like to go to Hawaii now.
