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Why Kate Beckinsale won £20,000
Actress was never ‘passed over’ for a Barbarella remake as Daily Express reported, court hears
Hollywood actress Kate Beckinsale has been awarded £20,000 in libel damages by the Daily Express for its false claim that she was passed over for the role of "sexy heroine Barbarella" in a remake of the 1968 cult classic starring Jane Fonda.
The 35-year-old English star of Pearl Harbor, Underworld and Van Helsing was not at London's High Court when the action was settled this morning.
Her solicitor told the judge, Mr Justice Eady, that the story had caused considerable embarrassment and harm when it was published last month. He said Beckinsale was never in discussions about the film role and there was never a possibility she would be part of the project.
It followed that she could not have been "passed over" in favour of Grindhouse actress Rose McGowan, as the Express report claimed. Nor was she facing "heartbreak" over losing the role.
Solicitor Graham Atkins argued: "The film industry, particularly at the highest level in Hollywood, values actresses on the basis of them being successful and in-demand - one may say, being 'hot property'.
"This article wrongly gave the impression that the claimant's career is in decline which would undoubtedly have a knock-on effect on those who would be casting film roles, as well as the industry as a whole."
Ian Helme, representing the Daily Express, said the newspaper hoped that the record had been set straight and Beckinsale's reputation restored.
Meanwhile the future of the proposed Barbarella remake remains a mystery. Earlier this year, it was reported that Robert Rodriguez, the writer-director of Grindhouse, was to make the film for the veteran producer Dino de Laurentiis. Rose McGowan, for whom Rodriguez left his wife, was indeed due to star. But their love affair didn't last, she was dropped from the film and he said he wouldn't film it in Germany, as the money men wanted.
Last month it was reported that Robert Luketic, the director of Legally Blonde, was to replace Rodriquez - but there is no word yet on who will slip into the famous Fonda costumes. ·
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@Peter Simmons: (a)I think you're far too cynical...as the article stated, it might very well have done her career harm...reputations are extremely important in the acting profession. (b)Being an American living in the UK for many years, I am tired of my home country being blamed for things that happen here. No one in America ever forced anyone in the UK to file a lawsuit. Interesting that libel laws in the UK are much easier for the person doing the suing than they are in America. The UK has become a haven for 'libel tourists' suing for things not even published over here -- people prefer to file libel lawsuits here rather than in the US! Talk about litigiousness...
And given the MP expenses scandal and huge bonus/pension payouts here, I wouldn't go throwing stones about 'quick bucks'.
So you get a friend to drop a rumour into a journo's lap, and then when it's printed you sue and make 20,000 pounds. Easy money! I'm sure that's not what happened in this case, but it opens up the possibility. Why should an actor be compensated over a story? It won't have done her career any harm at all, but in our increasingly money-obsessed litigious culture [imported from Amerika, land of the quick buck] everything has a price, while few know the value of anything.