Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel are knockouts in more ways than one.
In the July/August issue of Maxim, cover girls Beckinsale, 38, and Biel, 30, dish on their highly anticipated girl-on-girl fight scene in Total Recall (in theaters August 3). "Kate and I laughed about that one a lot. We never get to fight women in our movies, so we never had hair to deal with," Biel recalls. "I'd fake-punch her, her hair would go flying and get caught in my button, and I'd be stuck to her head."
Though she's no stranger to action movies, Underworld star Beckinsale was concerned about accidentally injuring Justin Timberlake's fiancee. "When it came to the actual hour of it, I was like, 'Oh, my God, am I gonna be the person who breaks Jessica Biel's nose?' I've only really fought with stuntmen and hairy werewolves before."
According to the film's resident badass, Colin Farrell, 36, "there wasn't a f-ckin' thing that looked girly" about the fight between Beckinsale and Biel. "It was like a kung fu master class."
Though all three stars worked with trainers to get in shape for the ramie of the 1990 sci-fi classic starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Beckinsale knows she's not as tough as she looks. "I think what's dangerous about being an actor who does action movies is you think, 'Well, I can totally handle myself now.' But if my opponent didn't know the other half of the routine, I don't know how well I'd do."
Beckinsale adds that she's "very good at firing a gun without blinking, which is unusual. That's why so many action characters have to wear sunglasses during shoot-out scenes. That's my party trick."
Total Recall marks the fifth time Beckinsale has worked with her director husband, Len Wiseman, 39, which prompted Maxim to ask the actress to share her tips for maintaining a successful long-term relationship.
"I think it helps if neither of you is shagging 12 other people at the same time. That's a hot tip," she jokes. "I think it's entirely down to picking the right person. My husband and I are pretty un-Hollywood, you know. Neither of us has tried cocaine, and I think I've been drunk once, by accident, in my life."
