She made her acting debut in 1989 in an episode of the television show Almost There as Angela Quartermaine.
In television shows like ALF, Full House, Murphy Brown, Seinfeld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ER, Charmed, Shark, The Mentalist, Monk and House she made several appearances starting in 1989. She only appeared often only in one episode of these series.
She appeared in the comedy film Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac Guess Who in 2005.
After playing a brief role in 1990, she shot to fame playing Yvonne Teasley in 23 episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210[3][4]and Judge Rebecca Damien on 32 episodes of The Guardian from 2001 to 2004. She played Vice Principal McBride, a recurring character on the television show California Dreams, from 1993 to 1994.
She starred in the action sci-fi film Sky Troopers, starring Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Ironside and Clancy Brown as Sky Marshal Meru in 1997.
She appeared in films such as Eulogy, Reign Over Me, Dr Dolittle 2, Requiem for a Dream, Pleasantville and Dr Dolittle 2.
During the final three seasons of the Nickelodeon animated series Rocket Power from 2000 to 2004, she voiced Officer Shirley in place of CCH Pounder, who had done so in the first season.
In Taylor Hackford’s 2004 autobiographical drama Ray, she played Marlene, the character’s manager in the late 1940s.
In the 2020 thriller Fatale, which also starred Hilary Swank, Michael Ealy and Mike Colter, she played Valeria.
Upcoming drama Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story, starring Ledisi, Corbin Bleu, Keith David, Vanessa Williams and Columbus Short, will be directed by Dowse. Dowse developed meningitis in August 2022, which led to his coma.
