ate Beckinsale doesn't get the opportunity to use her native accent very much. The 27-year-old British actress has starred in a number of North American films, but mostly as an American. Her beauty, grace and charm, not to mention her "period" look, caught the eye of director Michael Bay, who cast her as the female lead in his summer blockbuster epic, Pearl Harbor.   "It's funny," Beckinsale recently divulged during an interview in Hawaii while promoting Pearl Harbor, "I am so used to playing American women I feel like I should have dual citizenship." Since her 1993 film debut in Much Ado About Nothing, Beckinsale has shown her strength as a competent actress in films such as The Last Days of Disco, Brokedown Palace, Shooting Fish and The Golden Bowl. She also played the title role in A&E's Emma.   Pearl Harbor is her first big budget feature and, admittedly, she was scared at first, but just knew that she had to have the role of Evelyn, a young nurse stationed in Pearl Harbor at the time of the bombing. "From the first moment I was sent the script and read it, it made me cry in six different places. Even after the picture was finished and I was looping my dialogue I kept thinking I'm not going to get through this."   The film not only focuses on the war, but on a love triangle between Evelyn and two army pilots, Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett), who also happen to be best friends. Rafe and Evelyn fall in love, but when Rafe is called to fight the war in England he must leave immediately. Three months after Evelyn and Danny are led to believe that Rafe has been killed, despite trying to resist temptation, they can't help falling in love.   "Ben and Josh are two fantastic actors, and Ben was so kind to me. He'd been through his big huge movie with Michael Bay already (Armageddon) so he was so generous with advice and tried to make me as comfortable as possible."   On a personal note, Beckinsale may be proud about some of the performances that she has recently turned in, but beams when she has a chance to talk about her two-year-old daughter Lily with long-time boyfriend, actor Michael Sheen. "I had Lily with me for the entire shoot of Pearl Harbor. It was a little scary when we were actually filming the scenes when the bombs were dropped. If there were explosives around or if anyone was made up to look maimed, I made sure that Lily was a good distance away because she was a little too young to know that it was make believe."   Pearl Harbor isn't the only film that we'll see Beckinsale in this summer. She is starring with John Cusack in the romantic comedy Serendipity, which is due out in August.   Serendipity will be Beckinsale's first major American release in which she gets to use her native accent. The film was not originally written for an English character, but director Peter Chelsolm (Town & Country), who also happens to be British, made the change the moment he met Kate. "I hadn't played 'English' for so very long," says Beckinsale. "I love doing accents though. I studied languages in school so it has been pretty easy for me."   As for all of the attention that this beautiful actress is receiving, she's just taking it in stride. "It's really just so lovely. When I was making Pearl Harbor I didn't even realize it was a blockbuster until it was all over, I just thought it was a wonderful story to work on.   "But I do have to admit I am just a little bit nervous. All of this attention is something I have never had before. To be honest, I'm glad it's happening now, rather than say 10 years ago. I know there would have been no way that I would have been able to handle it." - Bonnie Laufer-Krebs