Kate Beckinsale

Given Kate's ability to look stunning in just about any clothes and situation known to mankind, she could easily have glided through life relying on her looks.

Yet even as a teenager she was far more than a pretty face, winning the WH Smith Young Writers' competition for her short stories and poems.

Before she opted to become a PVC-clad vampire hunter, The Underworld star also studied French and Russian literature at New College, Oxford, after which she moved on to study in Paris where, luckily for us, she decided to dump the books and jump onto the stage instead. Phew!

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