Kate Beckinsale’s recent appearance has sparked concerned chatter among fans, some of whom are worried about her slim figure and ‘unrecognizable’ features.
The actress, 51, attended Variety’s 2024 Power Of Women event last week wearing a corseted pink satin dress and an up-do hair style that revealed her prominent clavicle and accentuated her cheekbones and wrinkle-free forehead.
While a lot of attention was paid to her dress, fans online wondered whether Beckinsale, who has refuted plastic surgery rumors in the past, had undergone some surgical or injectable ‘tweakments’ to her face, with fans saying she is ‘unrecognizable,’ seemed ‘so plastic,’ and ‘looks sick.’
Beckinsale has said her recent weight loss is the result of a tear in her esophagus that prevented her from eating normally, which was exacerbated by stress and the grief of losing her stepfather Roy Battersby and her ‘soulmate,’ a cat named Clive – though some fans have questioned whether the star is using Ozempic.
Cosmetic surgeons told DailyMail.com that rapid weight loss generally causes sagging skin and a loss of volume in their face, leaving people with a gaunt appearance, which some may seek to fix with injectable filler.
Dr Dennis Schimpf, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Charleston, South Carolina, told DailyMail.com: ‘Current pictures of her clearly show a dramatic weight loss and loss of a dramatic amount of subcutaneous fat.
‘She has good cheek fullness, as well as lip fullness, which I would think is a result of a filler or fat grafting. Given her lack of fat I would guess fillers are more likely the cause.’
For years, dermal fillers have been seen as a fountain of youth in a syringe, with at least 5.3million injections administered annually. Injectable fillers are the second-most popular nonsurgical cosmetic treatment behind Botox and are used to restore volume to sagging areas of the face to restore a more youthful look.
Fans called out Kate Beckinsale’s accentuated collar bones and jawline, as well as her full lips
Plastic surgeons compared the most recent photos of Beckinsale with her role in the 2006 film Click, in which her features appear fuller and her lips appear thinner
DailyMail.com has reached out to the actress for comment.
Dr Gary Motykie, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, said over the years, Beckinsale’s lips have ‘subtly varied in fullness, potentially due to fillers or fat transfer to maintain smoothness and volume.
He told DailyMail.com: ‘At 51, it’s unlikely that non-invasive methods like microneedling or lasers alone would fully restore the natural fullness seen in her younger years, giving rise to some suspicion of filler due to her lips’ “poofy” look.’
Dr Motykie added that Beckinsale’s skin appears ‘more lifted,’ particularly around her brows, which he said could indicate a deep plane facelift, a more advanced technique than traditional facelift that uses smaller incisions but is designed to lift the deeper connective tissues and muscles around the mouth and jaw.
The procedure starts along the back of the jawline and extends toward the outer eye, where tissue naturally begins to sag with age.
He said: ‘This could explain her smooth jawline, lifted cheeks, and tightened skin around the lower face.’
The public also wondered whether she may have undergone buccal fat removal, a procedure that removes fat in the lower cheeks, which narrows the bottom half of the face.
Dr Motykie said this theory is not unfounded, but said the loss in volume in her face there ‘isn’t uncommon with natural aging, as many people lose volume in this area in their fifties.’
The effects of significant weight loss can mimic the look of buccal fat removal. When a person loses weight, the natural fat pads in their cheeks and temples diminish, which can leave them looking chiseled and defined or, in some cases, gaunt and sunken.
Kate Beckinsale has lost a significant amount of weight over the years, doctors pointed out, which can significantly age the face, causing it to appear more gaunt. They believe weight loss has given her the appearance of having undergone buccal fat removal in her face
Dr Rukmini Rednam, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Houston, said: ‘I do feel her current appearance is due to natural reasons such as weight fluctuations and her natural high cheekbones and face shape becoming slimmer and more defined, which can become more pronounced with aging.’
Dr Rednam added that Beckinsale’s smooth skin, particularly around her eyes, suggests she could have used Botox to paralyze facial muscles there or laser resurfacing to reduce fine lines.
Some fans have expressed concern about the actor’s svelte frame, positing that the grief she has endured is taking a toll on her physical health. Some others have gone so far as to speculate that she is taking Wegovy or Ozempic to lose weight, but Dr Schimpf is not convinced.
He told DailyMail.com: ‘If the recent death of her family member and her families issues with illness is true then it is possible her dramatic weight loss could possibly be due to the stress and lack of eating as well as a possible ulcer.
He continued: ‘But given the popularity and how rapid her weight loss has been, as well as the degree to which she has lost fat throughout her body the use of one of the GLP1 drugs is certainly possible.’
Still, Beckinsale has lost a great deal of body fat, Dr Schimpf said, ‘not only in her face, but also in her neck and upper body.’
He added: ‘The muscles of her of neck known as the platysma muscle and the bones of her upper torso such as the clavicles are extremely well defined and lack any significant subcutaneous fat. Her thighs also have a basic concavity appearance to the upper/mid leg region with little to no fat.’
At the same time, ‘She has significant breast fullness in the upper pole of her breast despite such dramatic weight loss, which would most likely indicate breast enhancement with implants.’
Beckinsale has been batting away plastic surgery rumors for years, insisting she does not use Botox or fillers due to her Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, where mast cells —immune cells that release chemicals like histamine — become overly active and release these substances in excess.
She said in May: ‘I don’t actually do any of those things – I’ve even gone to the trouble of having a plastic surgeon categorically state that I don’t and haven’t, and still, every time there’s a chorus of my God, you’re unrecognizable.
‘Oh my God PLASTIC, oh my God, you don’t even look like yourself anymore, it happens constantly and it’s usually women that are doing it.’
Despite Beckinsale’s denials, fans have not stopped reacting to her latest appearances.
One person said: ‘What does Hollywood have against aging gracefully??? She was doing great at it!’
Another said: ‘She can’t breathe with that dress and she can’t move any muscles on her face with that much plastic surgery.’
A third said: ‘She used to be a bombshell. I don’t even recognize her now. Please stop changing your face. Everyone looks the same now.’
