Kate Beckinsale Reveals She Was Asked to Lose Weight for ‘Pearl Harbor’

Credit: Ben Watts for Women’s Health

Kate Beckinsale Reveals She Was Asked to Lose Weight for ‘Pearl Harbor’

Kate Beckinsale revealed she was asked to lose weight after landing the her breakout role in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor. “It wasn’t great, it didn’t make me feel good, and in general, I think women are body-shamed 100 million percent more than men,” the 46-year-old actress revealed in her Women’s Health cover story, published on Wednesday, December 18. Beckinsale starred as Evelyn Johnson alongside Ben Affleck in the film, which was directed by Michael Bay. “Ben, who’d already done a movie with the director, was like, ‘This happened to me. They made me get new teeth,’” she told the magazine. “And I was like, ‘Cool, at least I get to hang on to my actual teeth.’” While Beckinsale told the outlet that she didn’t start hitting the gym until Bay, 54, advised to lose weight, she now works out six days a week. [jwplayer QZUTMr3B-l3ahXupL] “Now exercise is almost more important to me moodwise,” the Underworld star explained. “The other aspects feel like a great side effect.” Beckinsale is also conscious of her diet, eating protein like chicken or eggs before her workout and salads with radishes, brussels sprouts, and safflower oil for lunch or salmon. “I’m very connected to my body, so if I’m going to experience stress, I’m probably going to experience it physically,” she explained. “So it’s usually a good idea for me to go do something physical to get rid of it. I kind of have to think of myself as a horse or something—time for a run around the paddock.” Beckinsale touched on her love life in the cover story, admitting that she thinks more people would stay married if they didn’t live in the same house. “Being married is kind of easy, but the living-with-the-person thing is a lot. I also think that for women especially — and this is generalizing— but I think it’s common for us to mentally subjugate our needs to whoever else is in the room,” she said. “So if you’ve got a husband, a boyfriend, kids, or parents, it’s so easy to come in with an idea of what you’d like to do, and then end up going, ‘Oh no, no, no, it’s fine.’ And it’s quite nice to not always have to negotiate that.” Beckinsale, who shares daughter Lily, 20, with ex Michael Sheen, was previously married to Len Wiseman from 2004 to 2016. More recently, she was linked to Pete Davidson for several months. Scroll through for more from Beckinsale’s Women’s Health Interview:

Credit: Ben Watts for Women’s Health

Kate Beckinsale Reveals She Was Asked to Lose Weight for ‘Pearl Harbor’

Kate Beckinsale revealed she was asked to lose weight after landing the her breakout role in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor. “It wasn’t great, it didn’t make me feel good, and in general, I think women are body-shamed 100 million percent more than men,” the 46-year-old actress revealed in her Women’s Health cover story, published on Wednesday, December 18. Beckinsale starred as Evelyn Johnson alongside Ben Affleck in the film, which was directed by Michael Bay. “Ben, who’d already done a movie with the director, was like, ‘This happened to me. They made me get new teeth,’” she told the magazine. “And I was like, ‘Cool, at least I get to hang on to my actual teeth.’” While Beckinsale told the outlet that she didn’t start hitting the gym until Bay, 54, advised to lose weight, she now works out six days a week. [jwplayer QZUTMr3B-l3ahXupL] “Now exercise is almost more important to me moodwise,” the Underworld star explained. “The other aspects feel like a great side effect.” Beckinsale is also conscious of her diet, eating protein like chicken or eggs before her workout and salads with radishes, brussels sprouts, and safflower oil for lunch or salmon. “I’m very connected to my body, so if I’m going to experience stress, I’m probably going to experience it physically,” she explained. “So it’s usually a good idea for me to go do something physical to get rid of it. I kind of have to think of myself as a horse or something—time for a run around the paddock.” Beckinsale touched on her love life in the cover story, admitting that she thinks more people would stay married if they didn’t live in the same house. “Being married is kind of easy, but the living-with-the-person thing is a lot. I also think that for women especially — and this is generalizing— but I think it’s common for us to mentally subjugate our needs to whoever else is in the room,” she said. “So if you’ve got a husband, a boyfriend, kids, or parents, it’s so easy to come in with an idea of what you’d like to do, and then end up going, ‘Oh no, no, no, it’s fine.’ And it’s quite nice to not always have to negotiate that.” Beckinsale, who shares daughter Lily, 20, with ex Michael Sheen, was previously married to Len Wiseman from 2004 to 2016. More recently, she was linked to Pete Davidson for several months. Scroll through for more from Beckinsale’s Women’s Health Interview:

Credit: Ben Watts for Women’s Health

What She Avoids …

The English actress later noted that she avoids caffeine and alcohol. 

Credit: Ben Watts for Women’s Health

… And Why

“I think some people’s systems are just a bit sensitive to things. If you told me you had nausea yesterday, I might start throwing up myself,” Beckinsale said. “If I ate too much dark chocolate, it would be like someone else taking cocaine.”

Credit: Ben Watts for Women’s Health

No Days Off

“You’ll find yourself in Bulgaria, and you don’t know anyone, and they’ll say, ‘Well, we have a trainer who’s available, and he’s literally called The Punisher,’” Beckinsale said about working out on set. 

Credit: Ben Watts for Women’s Health

New Trend

Beckinsale added that she “just got into trampolining.” 

“It’s the greatest thing. There’s this woman, Lauren Kleban, who does LEKFit, and I think she’s a genius because she streams classes online,” she said. “It makes you feel kind of jolly!” 

Credit: Touchstone/Jerry Bruckheimer Inc/Kobal/Shutterstock

Live Your Life

“It can feel like a little bit of a political act to be a woman over 32 who is having any fun at all. And by that, I don’t mean doing drugs and drinking and partying—because I never am—but being goofy, and going out, and not going, ‘Omigod, I’m going to sit home and anticipate menopause while crocheting,’” she told the magazine. “Unless you’re doing that, it somehow seems to be risqué, which is just ridiculous to me.”