Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) says bye to her old life in Nothing But the Truth.Getting ugly for journalism
By John Esther
In Rod Lurie’s timely thriller, Nothing But the Truth, the British Kate Beckinsale stars as American reporter Rachel Armstrong. Rachel has just revealed the identity of CIA Agent Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) and the powers-that-be, lead by Patton Dubois (Matt Dillon), want to know the name of her source.
When Rachel refuses to reveal her source -- like New York Times reporter Judith Miller first did after her Valerie Plame disclosure -- her world falls apart as she is unconstitutionally incarcerated until she gives up the name. Her resistance will come at a cost.
Born and raised in London, England, Beckinsale’s previous credits include Laurel Canyon, Underworld, Van Helsing, The Aviator, Snow Angels and Vacancy.
Recently we caught up the soft spoken 35-year-old about her latest film, career and motherhood.
How did you like your foray into the fourth estate?
Kate Beckinsale: [Laughs]. Is it the issue, how I like it? Ah, yeah, I liked it very much. It was a really great job.
Rod was saying they had to use makeup to make it look like you had no makeup on.
KB: He’s full of shit. No, yeah they put eye-bags and stuff like that. But it’s embarrassing when he says that.
I believe that. Towards the end of the movie when Alan Burnside (Alan Alda) says, “You look like shit,” he has to point that out because I didn’t notice.
KB: That’s very nice of you. Yeah, I had some eye-bags and sort of yellowy skin when I was in prison. I went home with that by the end of the movie.
Did you do your own stunt work in the prison fight scene?
KB: I was surprised because I’ve done that a few times now and I arrive and there’s this huge array of kneepads, butt-pads and elbow-pads. Before when I was doing my stunts I was wearing skintight latex so I never had a pad in my life. Rod was really panicked. He’s usually very calm and easygoing but he had this terrified look that I was going to get properly beaten up. It was a really short fight scene to me. It wasn’t really that big of a deal.
How many takes was that scene for you?
KB: Not many because Rod was in such a spin about it. I’m thinking, “My god, usually I’m being so dangled off a cliff being set to light and nobody gives a…”
Rod said it was Snow Angels that made him see you and realize you can work in this part. Have you heard other people coming back and saying the same thing? For some people seeing you in Snow Angels has changed the way people look at you as an actor. I’m sort of curious what you’re hearing back.KB: Yeah, I think so – for the 15 or 17 people who have seen it seem to be responding that way [Laughs]. Rod had a slightly different perspective not seeing me in one of those super glossy movies or magazine or something like that.
How important is it for you to take a step away from the big movies and do smaller things?
KB: In terms of my entire career I’ve done so many more small movies. The thing about the large movies, I guess, they’re more visible. They have more of a budget to attract people. They’re different reasons why you do different jobs. When I first had my child, Lily, when she was growing up and I was a single mother and I wasn’t with her dad, I don’t think I personally could have felt good about having to dive as hard into a character as I had to with Rachel Armstrong. This is the first time I had not taken Lily to work with me every day. It was inappropriate. We were in a functioning prison for quite a lot of it and it’s not really a place where you can take a kid and hang out. I wouldn’t have been ready for that. I know we always have to sit here and say, “My god I live the script so much and the character is so fantastic”; but really there are a more prosaic reasons for why you do certain jobs more than others.
