Kate Beckinsale Style: ‘Underworld: Awakening’ Actress Goes for Safe but Elegant (PHOTOS)

Kate Beckinsale is back on the radar, thanks to her new movie "Underworld: Awakening," which took the top spot at the box office this past weekend.

In the film, the fourth in the "Underworld" series, her character, Selene, wakes up from a 12-year coma and finds out that she has a daughter.

"Everything in the world is different and so as I'm discovering what's different about the world the audience is kind of on the same page with me," she told MTV News.

Beckinsale has certainly come a long way since making her big screen debut in the 1993 film adaptaion of the William Shakespeare play "Much Ado About Nothing." The fresh-faced British actress would go on to star in blockbuster hits such as "Pearl Harbor" and "The Aviator."

Beckinsale was reportedly pleased to have scored a role in "Underworld," the first film in the series that came out in 2003.

"I'm glad I've never been so successful that I couldn't stop doing one thing," she said in a 2003 interview with IGN. "I've kind of been able to just kick it along and switch around."

The "Underworld" series became a cult classic, and fans were no doubt impatient to get the latest installment. There had not been an "Underworld" film since 2009.

Beautiful and fit, Beckinsale certainly fits the leading lady mold. 

The actress used to take more fashion risks, but she's played it safe for the most part in recent years, opting for what she knows looks good on her trim frame and preferring mostly neutral colors.

Click through to see some of Kate Beckinsale's best looks.

Kate Beckinsale

Beckinsale in 2000.

Beckinsale in 2001.

Looking flawless in 2002.

Looking lovely in 2004.

Looking trim and fit at the premiere for "The Aviator," in which she played old Hollywood screen legend Ava Gardner.

Beckinsale in 2006, wearing some funky earrings and lace.

Keeping it simple -- and elegant -- at the premiere of "Click" in 2006.

Beckinsale in 2008 at the premiere of "Snow Angels."

Beckinsale in 2009.

Glamorous in gray at the 2009 Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala.

At Cannes in 2010.

Beckinsale is one of the few women who can pull off all this pouf.

At the premiere for "Going the Distance" in 2010.

Showing some leg at Cannes in 2010.

At the 2012 Golden Globe Awards.