These days, it’s pretty universally accepted that Kate Beckinsale is one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood. At almost 50, she remains as unchanged as her Underworld (2003) vampiric breakout role, Selene. While we all may be acutely aware of her stunning good looks and absolutely bangin’ bod — believe it or not — there was a time when Beckinsale wasn’t the highly recognizable action staple she is today.
Before becoming a female action icon, Beckinsale was mostly known for romantic comedies and period pieces. She embraced the sweet, somewhat mousey appeal that many young brunettes get shoehorned into (we’re looking at you, Racheal Weiss, you stone-cold fox, you) in their youths and was thriving in smaller productions. She landed a leading role in Cold Comfort Farms (1995) and then starred alongside Gwyneth Paltrow in 1996’s Emma.
Beckinsale told Vulture that — when she was cast in 2001’s Pearl Harbor— she was under the impression that it would fit snuggly with the long line of historical pieces she had already established herself in. “I had not heard of Michael Bay, I had no idea what I was getting into. I thought I was making a period piece about Pearl Harbor.”
While the idea of Michael Bay making a period piece is hilarious, that was exactly what the director tried to do. His execution was off the mark and the movie was roundly panned by critics for its “artistic license.” The movie quickly became known for its historical inaccuracies and even sits comfortably near the top of the list of the least accurate military movies of all time. Despite the very little joy found in the film by critics, the movie performed well at the box office.
It even managed to nab an Academy Award for sound design and was the first film to win the award while simultaneously being nominated for a Razzie Award. Sitting at a comfortable 24% on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has been criticized for almost everything and still fails to gain audience favor. From Bay’s signature bombastic use of explosives and its 182-minute runtime, to the less-than-believable love triangle between Kate Beckinsale, Ben Affleck, and Josh Hartnett, even audiences have found the film to be fairly lacking— except for the 40 minutes of action depicting the actual attack.
Beckinsale’s inexperience with large-scale film productions and Michael Bay’s well-known proclivity toward — ahem — stacked women created a bit of a complex for the crew behind the film. “… there was a lot of panic and concern over ‘how on Earth are we gonna make her attractive?” Beckinsale told Yahoo News back in 2016. It didn’t stop there, even if Beckinsale wasn’t aware of Bay’s reputation back in the day, she’s well aware of it now.
“I think he was very alarmed because I wasn’t blond and my boobs weren’t bigger than my head, I didn’t make sense to him as an attractive woman.” Despite the complex-inducing conversation around what made her “unattractive,” the actor managed to keep it from getting her down.
“You’d think you’d take that really personally, but I sort of managed not to. It’s so extreme I kind of didn’t.” We all aspire to have that level of confidence when dealing with a superior hellbent on changing everything about us.
“There [were] diet plans and exercise regimens that [were] really punishing. [They] really baffled me because I couldn’t understand why a ’40s nurse needed to work out that much.”
Beckinsale clarified that it wasn’t just her on the punishing regimens. Co-star Ben Affleck made sure that she knew she wasn’t the only one with arduous requirements. He was just as scrutinized for his meals and physicality. Affleck told Uproxx that he would have quit the movie, but was too embarrassed at the time to drop out. One of the few things Pearl Harbor had going for it was the chemistry between Affleck and Beckinsale, so we’ll consider ourselves lucky he found the strength to go on.
