Kate Beckinsale addresses weight loss in emotional video: ‘It’s like my body has closed down’
The actor said she has been grieving since her mom, Judy Loe, died of cancer in July
Kate Beckinsale has addressed her recent weight loss in an Instagram post firing back at people who have made nasty comments about her body online.
The British actor, 52, dabbed away tears in an emotional video shared Wednesday as she said her thinness is a “physical manifestation of grief” after her mother and stepfather both died in the past two years.
“2025 was a really really hard year. It was also the last year that my incredible mum was on this planet. So I feel really torn about letting go of it as well,” Beckinsale said in the heartfelt video. She then reflected on the grief she has experienced in her life, including her dad dying when she was just five years old.
“I watched my 31-year-old father die of a huge heart attack, and then I watched my stepfather die and I watched my mother degenerate and die,” she said as she broke into tears. “Such an incredible amount of suffering and what I will say, it doesn't make you feel very hungry.”
She continued, “I don't know if there's some kind of survivor guilt because it started after my stepdad died. And it's not like anorexia where you're starving and it's a kind of willpower thing. It's like your body has closed down. I think it's shock and trauma.”
“I think watching, especially alone, the people that you love the most dearly suffer and have horrific and sometimes violent and awful deaths, really makes you not hungry.”
Beckinsale’s stepdad, Roy Battersby, died in January 2024 at age 87. Her mother, Judy Loe, died in July 2025, nearly two years after she was diagnosed with cancer.
The Van Helsing star went on to say that she appreciated the way her parents raised her because she would never leave “nasty” messages like the ones she has received in recent months about her noticeable slim down.
“For all the people who are inconvenienced by me being too thin or too anything or not what they expect me to be like, I really really wish that you had parents like I had,” she said. “I absolutely refuse to become like you.”
Earlier this month, Beckinsale responded to people commenting on her apparent weight loss and said she had been experiencing a “deeply painful” time.
“I’m going through one of the most deeply painful times of my life. The body keeps the score,” she wrote.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments
Bookmark popover
Removed from bookmarks