12 Best Kate Beckinsale Movies, Ranked

English actor Kate Beckinsale has steadily been appearing on the silver screen since 1991, starring in everything from independent British dramas to big-budget Hollywood blockbusters. Bringing an understated sense of elegance and grace to her roles, "The Underworld" film franchise star has proved to be just as adept at handling sharply written monologues as diving headfirst into tightly choreographed action set pieces. Whenever Beckinsale appears on-screen, all attention turns to turn her performance. She exudes natural magnetism — regardless if she's playing the protagonist or a memorable supporting role.

With a career spanning over 30 years, Beckinsale imbues her characters with quiet confidence and sharp wit. While her numerous roles have run the gamut of her immense talent. Here are the 12 best Kate Beckinsale movies, from the start of her career adapting the works of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen to the action-driven movies that showcase her impressive physicality.

Michael Bay's World War II epic "Pearl Harbor" has become a running joke. Despite its explosively stylistic set pieces, melodrama, and excessive runtime, it catapulted Beckinsale into the Hollywood mainstream. In "Pearl Harbor," Beckinsale stars as U.S. Army nurse Evelyn Johnson, caught between the affections of fighter pilot best friends Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett). This love triangle is thrown into disarray by Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, plunging the United States into WWII as Rafe and Danny leap into action.

"Pearl Harbor" may not be considered a good movie — and they're right — but there's a decent film underneath the over-polished cinematography, clunky dialog, and historical inaccuracies. Beckinsale has the thankless task of taking a thinly written character and turning Evelyn into more than just a pretty face pining for the leads. This accomplishment earns "Pearl Harbor" a place here despite its dubious reputation. Beckinsale practically became a miracle worker to instill a sense of depth and empathy into her role.

In the midst of Beckinsale's heyday as an action hero, she starred in the 2007 drama "Snow Angels." Helmed by filmmaker David Gordon Green, she plays opposite Sam Rockwell. Annie (Beckinsale) and Glenn (Rockwell) portray a separated married couple, living in a sleepy town in rural Pennsylvania. Each combat their newfound loneliness in their own way. As their town becomes impacted by the couple's dissolution, the story takes an especially dark turn when tragedy strikes.

"Snow Angels" is a fantastic dramatic showcase for Beckinsale and Rockwell. Much of the film hinges on the ennui and quiet misery of their everyday lives. However, it's a grim story. Loosely adapting Stewart O'Nan's 1994 novel of the same name, "Snow Angels" doesn't pull its punches in getting to its community's end of innocence. What makes this cinematic trek through grief and self-destruction so riveting are Beckinsale and Rockwell's performances. Both actors delve into some of their rawest acting moments to date.

Romantic comedies live and die on how strong the chemistry is between its leads. Fortunately, the stars of 2001's "Serendipity" have chemistry and charm to burn. Beckinsale stars as Sara Thomas, a therapist who goes on a chance date with ESPN producer Jonathan Trager (John Cusack) during a hectic holiday season in New York City. However, they're abruptly separated. Years later, the two manage to meet again while preparing to marry other people. Of course, they're reminded of their fateful date.

Full of Hollywood schmaltz, "Serendipity" takes the unusual route of splitting up its leads for the bulk of the film rather than letting them play off each other. Fortunately, Beckinsale and Cusack are engaging enough without each other. Beckinsale's Sara pairs well with co-stars Molly Shannon and John Corbett. Of all the conventional romantic comedies in Beckinsale's filmography, "Serendipity" stands above the rest. Thanks to its solid cast, the film overcomes its narrative contrivances.

As far as a feature film debut goes, one could do a lot worse than appearing in a William Shakespeare adaptation by award-winning filmmaker Kenneth Branagh. While Beckinsale had done some prior television and short film work, her first feature role was in Branagh's 1993 adaptation of "Much Ado About Nothing." Beckinsale plays the sweetly innocent Hero, whose plans to marry her love, Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), are complicated when her reputation becomes slandered by the lecherous lothario Don John (Keanu Reeves).

Beckinsale conveys the naive worldview of Hero with wide-eyed earnestness. The 1993 film is sunny and cheerful — especially compared to Branagh's other Shakespearean adaptations. More impressively, Beckinsale more than holds her own alongside veteran actors like Denzel Washington, Emma Thompson, and Branagh. Hero is one of the more relatively shallow roles in "Much Ado About Nothing," but Beckinsale makes the audience, as well as Claudio, fall head over heels for her.

Sure, there are other Kate Beckinsale movies that provide a wider showcase for her dramatic acting chops. But a simple fact remains: There was Kate Beckinsale before "Underworld" and Kate Beckinsale after. Clad in a form-fitting black leather bodysuit, with ice-blue contact lenses and a pair of matching pistols, Beckinsale's Selene is the most memorable horror action hero on this side of Blade. The 2003 film spawned a film franchise — though the original film remains the best in the series. "Underworld" boats a stylish production design with slick action sequences anchored by Beckinsale's masterful performance.

"Underworld" takes place in a world where vampires and werewolves have been engaged in a shadowy war for centuries. Selene is one of the vampires tasked with hunting the remaining werewolves. After medical student Michael Corvin (Speedman) becomes targeted by the two factions, Selene grows close to him and learns her overseers have hidden some sinister secrets. Gothically tinged and with Beckinsale as confidently cool as ever, "Underworld" marks her transition into an action star — setting a high bar for her work in the genre that has yet to be matched.

If you look at the breadth of Beckinsale's filmography, you can see she — like many British actors — has done a significant amount of period pieces. The best of all of them is 2016's "Love & Friendship," an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel "Lady Susan." The film reunites Beckinsale with her "The Last Days of Disco" collaborators Walt Stillman and Chloë Sevigny. In "Love & Friendship," Beckinsale plays Lady Susan Vernon, a young widow seeking eligible suitors for herself and her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark) in 1790s England.

Whereas most filmmakers pay reverent deference to Austen's work while adapting it, Stillman uses the source material as a springboard into something close to screwball comedy. After starring in numerous period piece dramas and staid literary adaptations, Beckinsale revels at poking fun at them. She delivers breathy monologues with a self-aware wink to the audience. "Love & Friendship" feels like the culmination of Beckinsale's work in the genre and one she takes full advantage of throughout its delightful runtime.