In 1996 Quigley made her major motion picture debut opposite
Meryl Streep in a small role in
Before and After, directed by
Barbet Schroeder. Prior to and after 1996, Quigley played many leading roles in the theatre in
New York City and throughout the United States, including a national tour in 1992 of
Brian Friel’s
Dancing at Lughnasa, after understudying the Tony Award-winning play on Broadway. Alvin Klein/New York Times wrote "the individual performances are strikingly good, with Ms. Quigley evincing an uncontainable rapture." Off-Broadway she originated the roles of Jane in Linda Faigao-Hall's
Dying in Boulder at
La Mama and Aviva in Staci Swedeen's
The Goldman Project (Abingdon Theatre).
John Simon/New York Magazine singled out her performance in
Kenneth Branagh’s
Public Enemy at the Irish Arts Center as "
outstanding." Quigley’s range of roles in regional theaters include Lady Bird Johnson in
Robert Schenkkan’s
All the Way, Agnes in
Tracy Letts’
Bug (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), the title role in
Martin McDonagh's
The Beauty Queen of Leenane (opposite
Eileen Brennan at Virginia Stage), and Elizabeth Proctor in
Arthur Miller's The Crucible (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Cincinnati Playhouse). Quigley has also played supporting characters in feature films such as
The Garden Left Behind directed by
Flavio Alves, Olivia Peace's
Tahara, Heidi Philipsen & Jon Russell Cring's
Darcy, Stuart Connelly's
The Suspect, and Jim Sheridan's Oscar-nominated
In America. Bernadette has recorded a number of
audiobooks, including
Helen Fielding's
Cause Celeb. Publishers Weekly wrote: "Quigley scrupulously brings Fielding's vapid, iconic characters to life with her uncanny ability to switch between accents and mood at the drop of a hat, achieving a subtler style of comedy than listeners may expect." ==Personal life==