Beckinsale blasts critics who think ‘at 46 I should just sit home crocheting’
Mark Jefferies
HOLLYWOOD star Kate Beckinsale has hit out at “ridiculous” criticism of her leading a fun life at 46.
The actress has recently had a string of younger boyfriends and is currently in lockdown with 22-year-old musician Goody Grace.
Asked about “age versus expectations” in an interview, British star Kate said: “It can feel like a little bit of a political act to be a woman over 32 who’s having any fun at all…
Ridiculous
“‘Oh my god, I’m going to sit home and anticipate menopause while crocheting’.
“Unless you’re doing that, it somehow seems to be risque, which is just ridiculous to me.”
Comparing how she is lambasted while men are given leeway, she said: “I witness men constantly doing whatever they like, whether that’s in relationships or deciding to buy a motorbike, or getting a tattoo.
“It hasn’t been interpreted as, ‘Why hasn’t he had more children?’ or ‘Is he ever going to decide to become a parent?’ or ‘Why has he had so many girlfriends?’”
Kate and Canadian beau Goody, who had a hit last year with Scumbag, have been pictured on daily exercise hikes together in California during the lockdown.
She was previously in an eight-year relationship with actor Michael Sheen.
The 51-year-old was her co-star in 2003 hit Underworld and she has daughter Lily, 21, with him. But she fell in love with Underworld director Len Wiseman, 47, while making the film and they wed in May 2004, divorcing in 2016.
Kate – the daughter of Porridge star Richard Beckinsale, who died aged 31 in 1979 – believes many marriages would be more successful if the couples did not live together.
Speaking to Women’s Health magazine, she said: “I think more people would do well married if they didn’t have to live in the same house.
Married
“Being married is kind of easy but the living-with-theperson thing is a lot.
“I also think that, for women especially, and this is generalising, but I think it’s common for us to mentally subjugate our needs to whoever else is in the room.”
●●The full interview with Kate appears in the June issue of Women’s Health, on sale now.