Snowbound with Kate and Gabriel

In Manitoba, Canada, on a frozen lake, a film unit is pretending to be in the Antarctic which isn't difficult since the temp is beyond low. The stars of the murder mystery/action thriller Whiteout, Kate Beckinsale and Gabriel Macht are bundled up and barely moving in their poofy snow gear while trying to do stunts in the cold....but they love it. In this film, based upon a graphic novel, Kate plays Carrie Stetko, U.S. Marshall (yes they still have them. They only started in the old West) who is running away from her past and trying to solve the first murder the area has ever known. Sent way down under by the U.N. to make sure an international incident doesn't develop, is Robert Pryce, played by Gabriel Macht and, of course, these two must gain each other's trust to survive while some frozen wacko is trying to off them as well.

In the much warmer Los Angeles clime, at a boutique hotel, part of which was set-dressed to look like the inside of a South Pole research station, complete with howling wind outside, we chatted with Kate and Gabe, who seemed to be good buds after their adventure, to get the story of frozen on set action, stuntwork in snowgear, exploring underground malls and how awesome it is to have action figures of yourself for your kids to play with (Kate for her Underworld vampire character and Gabriel for The Spirit). Out of her poofy snowgear, Kate wore a comfy V-neck white tee with sleek black jacket and skinny pants. Picture tan Gabriel in dark grey Henley shirt and dark pants.

TeenHollywood: Kate, in Whiteout, you are fighting baddies like in the Underworld films but in sub-freezing conditions most of the time. Does that make it a bit harder?

Kate: It was a lot colder and a lot more intense, actually. We were all worried we were going to die of hypothermia, every other second. It's a woman in an extreme situation with extreme weather, being the only girl. I've done that a couple times now. But, it was much more intense, just because of the weather.

TeenHollywood: Take us to set in Manitoba. What was that like?

Kate: When we arrived, they put a thick telephone directory under our hotel room doors, the night before we started shooting, that said, 'These are all the different ways it's possible to die here, of being too cold or of being too hot, if you keep your clothes on too long, when you go inside, or if you've ever had an alcoholic drink, or if you breathe in a westerly direction.' And, we all panicked. The most I remember was putting on and taking off 15 layers of clothes, about 70 times a day. When we first went out, all the men had beards full of ice that I thought was make-up department tests, but it wasn't. It was real. And, my hair froze into a point, just from breathing on it. I thought, 'Well, I'm from England, I'll know how to handle the cold,' and it wasn't anything like that.

Gabriel: My experience in Manitoba was that it was definitely freezing, and the environment was as close to the Antarctic environment as I would think is possible. We were in extreme weather but I wasn't that cold. The stuff they got us to wear was very warm. I was fine, and I expected it to be a lot worse. The challenges that we came up against were when we shot in the studio.

TeenHollywood: That's right. The production moved to sound stages in Montreal.

Gabriel: Yeah, we were in 80 degree weather, in late spring/early summer, and we were having to wear extreme weather gear. It was probably the hottest set I've ever been on, so I was sweating bullets and probably lost 35 pounds, by the end of the movie.

TeenHollywood: From one extreme to the other. If you two were stationed in Antarctica for months, what are two things you could not go without?

Kate: (Looks at Gabriel) Could we share a curling iron? I would take my daughter and I would take a bunch of books. I would also want a sat (satellite) phone.

Gabriel: I would take my wife and daughter. My wife is my other half, and my daughter is my other half, so that's one thing, right? I would also probably bring my laptop, so that I could get online and do some research.

TeenHollywood: Sounds sensible. Kate, you looked terrific in your underwear, and you have a shower scene in this film. Was that just there for the 14-year-old boys? Is there a certain level of gratuity that you have to accept, when doing this genre?

Kate:(laughs) Sometimes, you do what you're told in life.

Gabriel: We all take showers.

TeenHollywood: Kate, this seems like it was an incredibly physical movie for you. Were the stunts completely different from your past work? Was it harder to master than the Underworld stuff?

Kate: It's hard to say. It may have been, in terms of practically. But, nothing was harder for me than going from never having done it before to doing it. I'd had a background of ballet before I did Underworld, so the whole training and physical thing was a complete shock to me. It was much less like that. I'd never been dragged around on a homemade surfboard through snow, but once you've entered the realm of action movies, [it gets easier each time]. There's nothing like the first time. It was definitely manageable on this. We had a great stunt team. Just having such strong winds, and all that, wasn't something I had particularly encountered before, but it wasn't too hard.

TeenHollywood: Kate, what was the most challenging thing for you, about working in the cold?

Kate: I try to make out like we shot in the cold for a lot longer than we did, just 'cause it makes us sound a bit more tough. We were so lucky to have such a brilliant crew and fantastic cast. I've never been around such nice boys, ever. There's something about the weather being so extreme. You meet up and you're absolutely freezing, and then you're having to tear off your snow pants and everybody looks terrible, and then you're sweating. There's something very bonding about that. We all had a really good giggle with each other, all the time. And, the Canadian crew was excellent. If anything, the cold turned out to be a mutual point of contact that everybody complained about. Actors love complaining, and we didn't have to complain about hardly anything else because the cold was a big deal. It was great. In terms of being challenging, coming out of the trailer, that very first day, I really was worried I wasn't going to be able to speak at all, or say a line ever. My whole throat closed, on that first breath. Luckily, Gabriel told me to keep my passages open. Aside from that, the cold was really great. It was probably worse in the studio with the heat. Trying to stop Columbus [Short] from sweating was the biggest challenge there.

TeenHollywood: So, how much of these physical stunts did you two do yourselves, since you're so covered up that, sometimes, we can't tell if it's you?

Kate: Nothing. We went to Tahiti (laughs).

Gabriel: I feel like I did a lot of my own stunts. I think I did all of them, actually. There may have been some Second Unit stuff that I wasn't aware of, but I think I was pretty much around for all of it. I'd worked with Steve Lucescu, our stunt coordinator, on another film, and we got along great, both times. We had a good time.

TeenHollywood: Was it hard to move in those bulky suits?

Gabriel: Yeah. It has its challenges, but there's also a lot of padding, which helps when you're thrown down.

Kate: I think the bigger challenge is actually how to make it look cool and exciting, rather than just two people hitting into each other. That was the challenge.

Gabriel: And, also, you can't see anything behind you. It's tough with the goggles.

TeenHollywood: Kate, when you work on a film that has special effects and stunts, how do you keep your focus while doing all of that?

Kate: I don't know. This is what I do, and this is what I really love doing. I love acting and being on a set. I don't find it very difficult to focus. What we were doing didn't feel CG heavy. I love when you get to do a movie where so much of it is practical, even though we all complain about the fake snow and the sand and the stuff that gets hurled at you. In this, we weren't doing an awful lot of reacting to stuff that wasn't there. I haven't had a huge amount of experience with that. I would imagine that that is quite difficult. But, when we were being dragged through snow, we were having stuff thrown at us.

TeenHollywood: Let's talk about your "look". Kate, your hair is much shorter in the movie and you've gone back to your long hair now. What is it about your long hair that you love?

Kate: I still had long hair on the movie. I just had a very good wig on this movie. I don't really think about my hair that much. I've got a daughter and, if I do anything really radically different, she gets upset. I come in the door, and she goes, 'Ew, you don't look like yourself. You look horrible.' And, my husband tends to do that, too. No, I'm joking. I don't know. I've had it for awhile, so it just feels like myself, really.

TeenHollywood: What did you guys do in Winnipeg, when you weren't shooting?

Kate: I got a root canal in Winnipeg, which was excellent. It went really well. The dentists are fantastic in Winnipeg. In Winnipeg, in cold weather, they have great things to do inside, with a kid. So, I went to awesome museums and children's theater places. My daughter was there for the whole thing.

Gabriel: If I remember correctly, there were these long tunnels that I walked in.

Kate: There was outside skating that was fantastic.

Gabriel: I just remember walking in long hallways. I felt like I was walking in underground malls, all the time.

Kate: I did not do that. They had this whole frozen park outside. That was one of the greatest things I've done, ever.

Gabriel: I think I went ice skating out there.

TeenHollywood: Kate, what other types of movies would you like to do?

Kate: I did this movie while I was shooting an independent movie. I've done three or four independent movies, and now this. I'd actually love to do some comedy. That's what I'd really like to do. I'd like to maybe do a character that's English. I'd like to do something more classical. But, I really enjoy doing lots of different types of things. I hope that continues.

TeenHollywood: Do you plan to go back and spend any time in England at all?

Kate: I've just actually come back from being in London for five months. I was homesick, so my daughter and I went back for five months. My daughter went to school there, for a little bit. I went to see some of my relatives. So, I got it out of my system, for a little while. Five months was a good long time. I haven't been able to do that. I've been working so much, I haven't really been able to take a minute to do that, since moving here (L.A.), six or seven years ago. So, because I was taking a break, it was nice to go home for a bit.

TeenHollywood: Are you guys now, or have you ever been, comic book/graphic novel fans?

Kate: I married a fan (her Underworld director Len Wiseman), so now I know what a comic book fan is and I can't say I was one. I used to get comics, but my husband still buys action figures. It's a whole different world. My daughter is into comic books, but a slightly different kind than my husband. She's more into Archie comics. But, they go to get comic books together, and I look really confused. I just can't compete with their level of obsession, but I respect it, I married it and I live with it.

Gabriel: I've always been a comic book movie fan. I started reading comics, based on some of the opportunities I've gotten in film, and I have a huge respect for illustrators and writers in the comic world. If they're amazing, it's a great entertainment. I have a strong appreciation for comics.

TeenHollywood: Kate, what do you think characterizes the scripts that you choose?

Kate: I don't know. How I feel about it and how it appears are probably quite different because I'm present throughout all my movies, whether they come out or don't come out, and whether three people see them or lots of people see them. Perception wise, I would imagine that the larger, more action-based movies probably have the edge, just because they're the ones that are on buses and have big posters. But, my choices have been quite eclectic. I don't really know what it means. To me, it means that I've been allowed to do lots of different things, and I hope I still get to. But, I think I'd go mad, if I tried to think too hard about how I was perceived.

TeenHollywood: Do you make a decision immediately, when you read a script? Do you know right away, if something is for you or not, or do you agonize over it at all?

Kate: It really depends. Sometimes, you're lucky enough to get a script where you go, 'Oh, my goodness, whatever the circumstances of this are, however small of a movie it is, I definitely want to do it. I would do it, if it was being staged in my backyard.' There are different reasons to do movies. To be able to do the smaller movies, you have to have some sort of presence in the larger movies as well. It's just an odd thing, when you're doing your hobby as a career. It's hard to not be emotional about each thing. But, I think you know if you really don't want to do a project, when you read a script and hate it.

TeenHollywood: How do you handle working with motherhood?

Kate: She comes with me. She was with us during this. I try to make it as normal a life as I can. I'm a regular working mom. I think she's lucky to be around lots of very nice, creative, sweet people, and have experiences around the world. I don't leave her behind.

TeenHollywood: What's it like to see yourself turned into an action figure?

Kate: I haven't been a toy for a while (she has a toy for her vampire character in the Underworld films).

Gabriel: It's an incredible moment in your life. If you grew up watching movies and looking at action heroes, you think, 'Oh, man, maybe I'll be one of those, one day.' I think I played with some CHiPs action figures, [as a kid]. Anyway, it was pretty amazing. I thought mine looked a bit like (actor) William Sadler.

Kate: Mine looked a bit like William Sadler.

Gabriel: But, I'm totally happy with it.

Kate: My daughter has an action figure of myself and her dad (Michael Sheen). It's just weird when I catch her with one in each hand, and I wonder, 'What's going to happen next? How's that going to go?'

Gabriel: I've been showing my daughter, who's 2, my action figure (Gabriel is married to Poseidon actress Jacinda Barrett.) I'm like, 'Who's that?' and she looks and says, 'Daddy'. It's just one for The Spirit.

Kate: I like my one that is a bit more of a Barbie style better. It has less of an angry face than the action figure. That one looked a bit scary. My mom has it.

TeenHollywood: Gabriel, what do you have coming up?

Gabriel: I have a film called Middle Men that should be coming out In February I think. I play a rocket scientist who came up with the software to bill on the internet so he makes hundreds of millions of dollars dealing with internet porn. There's another film that I'm going to start shooting with Ed Zwick and Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway called Love and Other Drugs.

TeenHollywood: Kate, will you ever do another Underworld?

Kate: I don't know anything about a 4th Underworld. It was always conceived as a trilogy, and I was never going to be in the third one. If they came up with an amazing script than sure, I definitely wouldn't be adverse to it. But, it's not necessarily planned.

TeenHollywood: There were reports that you had already signed to a new Underworld trilogy. Is that just rumor?

Kate: Oh, God. Three whole more? I don't think my daughter needs to see my bottom in rubber for another 10 years. I don't know. I heard they wanted to do a fourth one, but I don't know if that's official or if that's just a rumor. As far as I'm concerned, it's a rumor.