Why Kate From A Knight's Tale Looks So Familiar
No other film than "A Knight's Tale" has dared to ask the question: What if a medieval jousting contest was set to the music of Queen? That answer is you have one of the most fun movies to come out of the early 2000s, and to this day, "A Knight's Tale" remains a fan-favorite across audiences.
It tells the story of a brave, wannabe knight William Thatcher (Heath Ledger), who sets out on a quest to get out of the peasant life and pursue his dreams. Fortunately, he has plenty of help along the way with his loyal friends Roland (Mark Addy), Wat (Alan Tudyk), and Kate (Laura Fraser). Kate joins the party later on in the film to prove that her armor is just as good as any made by a man.
Whether you're watching "A Knight's Tale" for the first or third time on Netflix, you're bound to be impressed with Laura Fraser's performance as the strong-willed Kate. She's had ample experience playing strong women in the years since the movie came out, and you've likely seen her in plenty of other roles in the past without realizing it.
She got her big TV break on Neverwhere
"Neverwhere" may have only lasted six episodes, but there was a ton of talent associated with it that makes it worth another look. For starters, the series comes from the mind of Neil Gaiman, who's responsible for giving the world the majesty of "The Sandman." "Neverwhere" stars future "Doctor Who" star Peter Capaldi, and it also served as a major stepping stone in Laura Fraser's career.
As with any new project, challenges were in front of the young actress, as she would relate in an interview with ReelScotland. "For 'Neverwhere,' there were lots of old school English directors who talked really slowly and who were very posh, and I thought that was how it was in England," she explained. "I wasn't very good in that, I didn't know what I was doing and was struggling to do the English accent."
Following her stint on the BBC Two program, she'd go on to star in numerous other television and film projects before landing arguably her biggest role to date.
Laura Fraser broke bad as Lydia
A lot of morally bankrupt characters made their way onto "Breaking Bad" throughout its five seasons. While many of them made sense to fall into the meth underground, Lydia (Laura Fraser) was a different kind of evil altogether. On the surface, she appears utterly straight-laced, but in actuality, she manages all of Walter's (Bryan Cranston) meth sales worldwide. She's also deranged enough to order the deaths of a ton of people but doesn't want to look at the carnage afterward.
Fraser had the chance to speak about this dichotomy in an interview with GQ. "I think her moral compass is definitely wonky," she elaborated. "She's about three-quarters submerged in the underworld in this point, and she has less and less desire to escape the darkness that she's in; she's no longer trying to climb the walls and get out."
Fraser has reprised the role for several episodes of the spinoff series "Better Call Saul."
She returned to the BBC for The Missing
Laura Fraser certainly hasn't forgotten her roots, and in the aftermath of "Breaking Bad," she landed another juicy role as Eve Stone on "The Missing." The anthology series followed a new case every season, with Fraser appearing in the second installment. This time around, a girl goes missing in Germany, resulting in a nationwide hunt for the truth.
Eve Stone is vastly different from Lydia, but both TV series follow dark subject matter. It's a trend that wasn't lost on Fraser, as she explained in an interview with Daily Record: "I don't want to look at the darkness, but I think sometimes its good to make the darkness conscious and sometimes it's best to just leave it in there. I get drawn to it and have absolute nightmares, it's hard to watch but so compelling too."
Most recently, the actress has also appeared on "The Pact" and "Traces." More is bound to be in store for Fraser, especially seeing how there's one more season of "Better Call Saul" on deck.