Kate Beckinsale's IQ may have been a 'handicap' in her career: 'It's really not helpful'
Kate Beckinsale told Howard Stern her mother had her IQ tested as a child
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hollywood isn’t exactly known for producing intellectual heavyweights.
And Kate Beckinsale, 48, believes her "very high IQ" may have "handicapped" her career in Tinseltown.
The brainy British actress — who was educated at Oxford University and currently stars in "Guilty Party" on Paramount+ — made the bold claim during an interview with Howard Stern on Wednesday, revealing she has an IQ of 152.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to Healthline, the average person has an IQ between 85 and 115. Beckinsale’s score of 152 places her in the top 1% of the population, meaning she is considered "highly gifted."
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Kate Beckinsale said her IQ was tested as a child. (Photo by Karwai Tang/Getty Images)
But the "Underworld" actress says the smarts haven’t been a bonus.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"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,'" Beckinsale told the shock jock.
"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."
Beckinsale studied French and Russian literature at Oxford, before she dropped out to properly pursue her career in acting. The London-born beauty — who still speaks fluent Russian — relocated to the US in the late 1990s.
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The British actress was educated at Oxford University. (SC Pool - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Despite being a big name in Hollywood, and scooping roles in "Pearl Harbor," "Serendipity," and the "Underworld" franchise, Beckinsale has failed to match the success of some of her contemporaries.
The self-deprecating star clarified that she had her IQ tested by her mother when she was younger and that she may have "burned a few brain cells" in the intervening years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Beckinsale is on the mend after being hospitalized in Las Vegas last month.
The stunner sustained a back injury while in Sin City filming her new movie, "Prisoner’s Daughter."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kate Beckinsale currently stars in ‘Guilty Party’ on Paramount+. (Getty)
She later revealed how she sustained the injury while trying to put on a pair of leggings in her hotel room.
Beckinsale recently told James Corden: "Having done eight or nine hundred action movies, I hurt myself putting on a pair of leggings… it felt like a sort of guitar string snapped and everything was horrible."
"I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t lie down, I couldn’t sit down. I couldn’t do anything."