Kate Beckinsale is suing the producers of Canary Black for imposing “unsafe conditions” on her during her work on the 2024 action thriller.
The Guardian newspaper reports that the British actress – best known for her role in 2001 epic Pearl Harbor – has filed a suit, claming she was made to work 15-hour days without support, and suffered a bad knee injury as a result of being thrown into a wall during the filming of a scene.
The suit – originally filed anonymously in June 2024 but now refiled under her name – claims Beckinsale suffered “severe and debilitating injuries” as a result of “unsafe conditions.”
The document filed on behalf of the actress also claims:
- She suffered a meniscus tear in her left knee after being thrown into a wall
- She was “coerced” into performing “unsafe action sequences” after returning to work
- Beckinsale’s stunt performer broke her ankle and “rather than replace her with a qualified stunt [performer]”, the producers “hired an unqualified stunt woman who was simply the girlfriend of the stunt coordinator.”
- Workout equipment requested by Beckinsale was not provided for her to stay in adequate physical shape for the role
The Guardian has contacted Zois and the film’s sales representatives Anton for comment.
Canary Black, which starred Beckinsale as a CIA agent blackmailed into undertaking missions in exchange for her kidnapped husband’s life, was released in October 2024. It also starred Rupert Friend, Saffron Burrows and Ray Stevenson.
Prior to Pearl Harbor, Beckinsale – who is the daughter of late UK TV comedy star Richard Beckinsale but has long made her home in Hollywood – made her big screen breakthrough in Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing (1993). She has since been seen in Total Recall (2012), Van Helsing (2004) and the Underworld series (2003-2016).
