Kate Beckinsale Free Screensaver. Photos slideshow. Kate Beckinsale (born July 26, 1973 in London, England) is an English actress. Her first major American film, Brokedown Palace (1999), was not a commercial success. Soon after, Beckinsale was cast in the 2001 film, Pearl Harbor, which was one of the highest grossing films of its year. In the years following, she appeared in a series of American films that were high-profile, but were given a somewhat poor critical reception, including Serendipity (2001), Underworld (2003) and Van Helsing (2004).In 1991, Kate attended Oxford University's New College, where she majored in French and Russian Literature. She already knew that she was going to pursue a career in drama, but in order to broaden her horizons she decided to attend a regular university rather than a school geared towards drama and other fine arts. In 1992, she landed the role of Hero in the film adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (co-starring Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, and Keanu Reeves). Upon receiving three more roles in European productions, Kate dropped out of her studies. Up next for Kate was a role in the 1994 BBC television satire, Cold Comfort Farm. She continued performing in British theater for the next few years and added some more films to her resum, including Emma, Haunted, and Marie-Louise ou la permission. In 1998, Kate returned to American shores in the film Brokedown Palace, and starred in the indie films Shooting Fish and The Last Days of Disco, co-starring Chlo? Sevigny. After a role in The Golden Bowl, Kate had a stellar year, being cast in the $150-million Touchstone pic, Pearl Harbor and the romantic comedy Serendipity, co-starring John Cusack.