Kate Beckinsale, Hollywood's New 'It' Girl

Get ready to hear a lot about Kate Beckinsale, the star of three big summer movies. She romances John Cusack in "Serendipity," Jeremy Northam in "The Golden Bowl" and Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett in "Pearl Harbor."

Anyone who might envy this lovely young actress should know that her life hasn't always been so rosy. Her father, British TV star Richard Beckinsale, died at 31 of a heart attack, leaving her mum to care for 5-year-old Kate.

In a candid chat, Beckinsale told me she could identify with her "Golden Bowl" character, an only child raised by a doting dad. "It is such an intense relationship between a surviving parent and a child.

It can be wonderful, but also problematic."

Beckinsale became anorexic as a teenager and spent five days a week on an analyst's couch for four years. "I worked hard to try and overcome certain things. The eating problem was a very minor part of it."

Her problems resolved, she found the "most fantastic partner," stage actor Michael Sheen, and settled into domestic bliss with their 2-year-old, Lily. Joined by her family in Hollywood, Beckinsale has avoided becoming consumed with her career. "I'm not getting boob jobs in my spare time or schmoozing at parties. I'm at a playground swinging Lily or looking for her rubber ducky."

Making the blockbuster "Pearl Harbor" was a new experience for Beckinsale, who is accustomed to the leisurely world of costume dramas. Director Michael Bay was too busy re-creating World War II to analyze every single line with her the way the Merchant-Ivory team did for "Golden Bowl." "I would often get together with Josh and Ben and the three of us would rehearse on our own," she said. "I think we were cast because we thrive on working things out for ourselves."