KATE BECKINSALE IS A FIGHTER

THE ACTRESS IS STRONGER THAN EVER THANKS TO A SENSIBLE DIET, NEAR- DAILY WORKOUTS AND A REFRESHINGLY OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK. (OH, AND SHE’LL DATE WHOMEVER SHE WANTS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH)

- Molly Creeden

On the October evening that Los Angeles wildfires closed in on Kate Beckinsale’s neighbourhood and forced her to evacuate, it was the second threat she’d received that night. “I had a prowler at 01:00,” she says. And by “prowler,” she means a creepy man banging on her door forcing her to call the cops. Hours after the police left, Kate’s attention was drawn to her front door again – this time to a “giant fireball” just beyond it, advancing at a terrifying pace. “I was like, ‘Okay, this is the next thing,’” she says, catching her breath, her eyes widening as she recalls how she scooped up her cats, Clive and Willow, her dogs, Ingrid and Myf, their food, her passport and left. The Widow actress spent the next week in a hotel, feeling grateful she and her creatures were safe.

Just a week later, we’re at a restaurant and Kate – who has arrived in a black tank top, heels and the longest, thickest curls – has been cleared to move back into her house. Politely, she explains that in her more than 20 years of being famous, she’s found that writers often get her wrong. Because of her film roles, people assume she spends a lot of time walking around with a solemn expression or angled optimally on a red carpet. In fact, she says, she hates posing and finds photo shoots mortifying. During them, she pictures her four stepbrothers rolling their eyes. “Which is healthy,” she says. “I think once you get comfortable with that, you’ve left the building.”