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Kate Beckinsale Says Her High IQ Has Been 'Handicap' In Career

Kate Beckinsale Says Her High IQ Has Been 'Handicap' In Career

The actor also said she thought she'd be happier if she was less intelligent.

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

Kate Beckinsale has said that she believes her high IQ has been a 'handicap' throughout her career.

The actor studied French and Russian literature at Oxford University, and speaking recently on The Howard Stern show, she revealed she has an IQ of 152.

To put that into some context, the intelligence quotient test is designed so that 100 indicates an average score. High IQ club Mensa will only accept people in the top two percent, and their score must be above 132.

So yeah, Kate's brainy alright.

Beckinsale thinks her life might have been easier if she wasn't so brainy.
Alamy

However, the Van Helsing star actually thinks her intelligence has been a hindrance.

Marvelling at her high IQ, radio host Stern said: "That's like almost Einstein level. Oh, I wish I had an IQ of 152."

"You don't," replied Beckinsale. "Every single doctor, every single person I've ever come across has said, 'You'd be so much happier if you were 30 percent less smart,' and I'm sure that's true."

She added: "It's no good to me, though. It's really not helpful to me in my career. I just think it might have been a handicap actually."

Unfortunately, the 48-year-old didn't get a chance to elaborate on why she reckons her brainpower has held her back - but given her IQ, we should probably just assume she's right.

Stern did ask how it had affected her love life though, to which she replied: "I've always found I can forgive an awful lot if somebody's funny.

"So, there's a certain degree of intelligence in somebody funny that I'm able to mess with."

Beckinsale clarified that she had her IQ tested by her mum when she was younger and she may have burned a few brain cells' in the intervening years.

Watch the interview here:

Beckinsale is now on the mend after being hospitalised in Las Vegas last month.

While filming for the new movie Prisoner's Daughter, she said she sustained a back injury trying to put on some leggings.

Speaking on The Late Late Show With James Corden, she said: "Having done eight or nine hundred action movies, I hurt myself putting on a pair of leggings in my hotel room.

"I was doing a very intense emotional drama and not running up walls or anything. I was in my hotel room putting on a pair of leggings, and it felt like a sort of guitar string snapped and everything was horrible."

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Celebrity, Interesting, UK Entertainment