Kate Beckinsale’s recent health troubles are not keeping her off the big screen.
Beckinsale, 50, will star alongside Scott Eastwood in the kidnapping drama Stolen Girl, which is now in pre-production. The film will tell the true story of Maureen Dabbagh, a woman who spent years searching for her daughter after she was abducted by the child’s father.
Most of Stolen Girl will be shot in Italy and is expected to begin principal photography soon, with a reported budget around $25 million. James Kent will direct the movie, with Rebecca Pollock and Kas Graham writing the screenplay.
The news of Beckinsale’s casting comes just weeks after she shared (then deleted) a series of posts on Instagram from a hospital bed as she received treatment for an undisclosed illness. While Beckinsale hasn’t shared details, she has denied being treated for a ruptured cyst or endometriosis. Beckinsale was previously treated for a ruptured ovarian cyst in January 2019.
Beckinsale first posted a photo of herself in a hospital bed on March 10, celebrating U.K. Mother’s Day and sharing kind words about her own mother. Two days later, she shared an image of her Pomeranian, Myf, visiting her in the hospital, adding that her cat Willow visited the day before.
It’s not clear whether Beckinsale left the hospital after that and then returned, or if she had one extended stay, but she later celebrated Easter from a hospital bed on March 31 and shared more hospital photos a few days later.
Beckinsale also hinted at stomach pain in an Instagram post on Sunday, April 21. Earlier this month, she shared a post of herself wearing a shirt that said “TUMMY TROUBLES SURVIVOR.”
Her health troubles come at a difficult time for the actress, who has also dealt with the grief of losing her stepfather, Ray Battersby.
Over the weekend, Beckinsale paid tribute to her stepfather on what would have been his birthday.
“There will be no FaceTime today,” she wrote via Instagram, next to a photo of Battersby. “In the middle of my night, watching you open your presents. No one received gifts with more joy.”
She added in another post the next day, “Do all the things. Wallow, cry, celebrate, look at the wall in disbelief. Send your mum flowers…Buy gourmet cookies you can’t eat because your stomach hurts. Maybe eat them anyway. Or don’t. Laugh and cry when you receive an email from a dentist you took him to once, wishing your dead father a happy birthday. Do it all. Or do none.”
