That’s what friends are for! Kate Beckinsale opened up about a time when Keanu Reeves and Robert Sean Leonard came to her rescue on the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival.
Beckinsale, 49, revealed via Instagram on Monday, May 29, that the incident took place when she, Reeves, 58, and Leonard, 54, were attending the 1993 premiere of their film, Much Ado About Nothing, alongside costar Denzel Washington.
“So, my mum DID find one of the original Cannes pictures but unfortunately it’s not full length, so you can’t see the Dr. Martens,” Beckinsale began in the caption of a photo that showed her posing with the actors. “Fun fact though: I had bought the bodysuit in the Sock Shop at the airport and when I got in the car to drive to the premiere with Denzel [and his wife] Pauletta Washington, all the poppers in the crotch area popped themselves open and it flipped up like a roller blind.”
The Underworld star continued: “I didn’t feel it was appropriate to go delving around in my under carriage with all of us in the back of the car, so I just quietly panicked. Walked out on to the biggest red carpet of my life and whispered to Keanu and Robert Sean Leonard what had happened.”
Beckinsale remembered how the men quickly swung into action. “In this picture, I am holding the front gusset down and the two of them are holding the back gusset,” the Van Helsing actress wrote. “Absolute legends who may not even have fully understood the physics of what was happening or even heard the word ‘gusset’ before, but both jumped in to save me no questions asked.”
In the throwback snap, the Serendipity star could be seen smiling up at Washington, 68, as Reeves and Leonard covered her backside. Beckinsale teamed the patterned bodysuit with loose trousers and a long duster jacket. She accessorized with dangling earrings and wore her hair in a chic updo. Reeves and Leonard, for their part, looked dapper in black suits. At the time, Washington also opted for a dark blazer and coordinating trousers.
In addition to Beckinsale, Reeves, Leonard and Washington, Much Ado About Nothing also starred Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. The movie is a romantic comedy based on William Shakespeare’s play of the same name and follows young lovers and soon-to-be newlyweds Hero (Beckinsale) and Claudio (Leonard), who conspire to get verbal sparring partners Benedick (Branagh) and Beatrice (Thompson) to wed.
Beckinsale’s flashback moment comes after she attended the Pot-Au-Feu premiere during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, May 24. For the screening, she got leggy in a sheer, crystal-adorned romper finished with a protruding silk overlay. She teamed the Zuhair Murad design with metallic platform heels and a bouncy high ponytail.
