Kate Beckinsale

TOUCHSTONE
"It's a weird thing but you really haven't kissed
someone when you kiss them in a movie," says
Kate Beckinsale, standing, in white. She kisses
both the male leads in "Pearl Harbor."

Gorgeous men made
the hard work go
a bit easier

---

By Tim Ryan
Star-Bulletin

It's 9 a.m. and petite and pouty British actress Kate Beckinsale looks more out of place on the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier than any of the news media or Disney workers scampering around trying to control chaos.

Beckinsale, 26, who plays military nurse Evelyn Johnson in "Pearl Harbor," is wearing a puffy knee-length skirt, white blouse, high heels and stockings. While the image she projects on screen as the love interest of Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett is enormous, in person Beckinsale is tiny, at 5-foot-2 and less than 100 pounds.

And so proper -- ("Hello, so very nice to meet you," she says. "You got me first today so I am very fresh.") -- that it's hard to believe that during the filming here last year she joked about the "amount of testosterone" on set, occasionally yelling "penis, penis, penis."

"Oh, that was just a takeoff on (the film) 'Tora, Tora, Tora,' " she said.

"Pearl Harbor" is Beckinsale's biggest film to date, although making the movie was not part of any career strategy.

"I've never had a master plan careerwise, quite honestly," she said. "I thought the script and the character were remarkable. When I got to Hawaii to start working I was shocked at the immensity and wondered what I had gotten myself in to."

It ended up being a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. "Oh my God, Ben and Josh are just such gorgeous guys," she said. "Josh is this young, beautiful, sensitive guy. And Ben is handsome and super intelligent and so quick-witted; they cover all bases."

Lest you think there was any offscreen romancing, Beckinsale has been with actor Michael Sheen for seven years. They have a 2-year-old girl, Lily.

But who was the better kisser?

"Honestly, they are both excellent kissers; there were no horrible surprises with either one," she said. "Ben is more aggressive; Josh is more subtle."

With a twinkle in her eye, she said Affleck occasionally found her "fake boob" in his pocket.

"All the nurses had these pretend bosom things that we would put into these period bras. We called the devices chicken cutlets; they beefed everything up a little bit.

"But it was so hot some days that I would take my little cutlet out and lay it down on the lunch table or somewhere and forget about it. Ben would put it in his pocket for me. Every time I lost one of my boobs everyone knew that Ben would be holding it for me; well, so to speak."

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