1980s and early 1990s During her studies at
Columbia High School and after her parents' divorce, Shue began acting in television commercials, becoming a common sight in advertisements for
Burger King, also featuring future stars
Sarah Michelle Gellar and
Lea Thompson (with whom Elisabeth would later co-star in both television and film),
DeBeers diamonds, Chewels bubble gum, and
Best Foods/
Hellmann's mayonnaise. She had small parts, credited as Lisa Shue, in
The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana (1982) and
Somewhere, Tomorrow (1983), which provided an early starring role for
Sarah Jessica Parker. Shue made her feature-film debut in 1984, when she co-starred opposite
Ralph Macchio in
The Karate Kid as
Ali Mills, a high-school cheerleader and the love interest of Macchio's main character. Shue was a series regular as the teenaged daughter of a military family in the short-lived television series
Call to Glory between 1984 and 1985, which she followed in 1986 starring alongside
Terence Stamp in the British horror film
Link. In 1987, Shue appeared in the television movie
Double Switch (part of the
Disney Sunday Movie series), co-starring with
George Newbern, who went on to support her in her first star vehicle, the hugely popular
Adventures in Babysitting, in the same year. In 1988, Shue starred in
Cocktail as the love interest of
Tom Cruise's lead character. The following year, she starred in the short film "
Body Wars", which was used at
Epcot in an
ATLAS Simulator attraction in the
Wonders of Life Pavilion until 2007. Other roles followed, including appearing as
Jennifer Parker in
Back to the Future Part II (1989) and
Back to the Future Part III (1990), where Shue replaced
Claudia Wells, who declined to reprise the role from
Back to the Future due to her mother's illness. Around this time, her older brother, William, died in an accident on a family holiday. Although her career was on the rise with her playing lead roles, Shue elected to take on the smaller supporting role of Jennifer in these sequels to allow her to deal with her family loss. The sequels were filmed back to back, and Shue featured prominently in Part II, appearing in bookend pieces in the third part of the trilogy. Shue auditioned for the
Ione Skye role in
Say Anything... (1989), being a runner-up along with
Jennifer Connelly. In May 1990, Shue made her
Broadway debut in
Some American Abroad at the Lincoln Center. The following year, Shue returned to cinema, when she appeared in the comedies
The Marrying Man with
Kim Basinger and
Alec Baldwin, and
Soapdish with
Sally Field,
Robert Downey Jr.,
Kevin Kline,
Cathy Moriarty, and
Whoopi Goldberg. Between 1992 and 1994, Shue appeared in a variety of supporting roles in both film and television. These included the comedy
Twenty Bucks (reuniting with
Christopher Lloyd from
Back to the Future), noir thriller
The Underneath, a guest appearance in
Dream On, and the romantic comedy
Heart and Souls (reuniting with Robert Downey, Jr.). She also returned to Broadway in 1993, performing in Tina Howe's production of
Birth and After Birth.
1995–present Although often cast as a
girl-next-door type, in a career-defining role, Shue starred as a prostitute in the 1995 film
Leaving Las Vegas with
Nicolas Cage. The role earned her an
Academy Award nomination for
Best Actress. Shue was also nominated for a
BAFTA,
Golden Globe, and
SAG Award for Best Actress, and won Best Actress at the
Independent Spirit Awards,
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, and
National Society of Film Critics Awards. at the 2005
Toronto International Film Festival Shue's career flourished after her Oscar nomination, landing her diverse roles. She starred in
The Trigger Effect in 1996.
Woody Allen's
Deconstructing Harry (1996) showcased her comedic abilities among heavyweight co-stars
Billy Crystal,
Demi Moore,
Robin Williams, and
Stanley Tucci. Shue also displayed some action-movie skills in the 1997 spy remake
The Saint opposite
Val Kilmer. The thriller
Palmetto (1998) afforded her the chance to play a
film noir-ish
femme fatale opposite
Woody Harrelson; Shue co-starred in
Cousin Bette (1998) with
Jessica Lange, and
Paul Verhoeven's
Hollow Man (2000) with
Kevin Bacon proved another summer blockbuster. In 1999, Shue starred as the titular
Molly as an
autistic young woman placed into the care of her unwilling bachelor brother, played by
Aaron Eckhart. Shue played a mother who reveals her dark past to her teenaged daughter in the 2001 ABC movie
Oprah Winfrey Presents: Amy and Isabelle. Shue has since stated she was "extremely proud of that film, which no one ever saw, so it's a good lesson that you do work for yourself and not necessarily for the end result". Shue starred in
Leo (2002) with
Joseph Fiennes and
Dennis Hopper,
Mysterious Skin (2004) opposite
Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
Hide and Seek (2005) opposite
Robert De Niro and
Dakota Fanning, and
Dreamer (2005) again opposite Dakota Fanning and
Kurt Russell. In 2007, Shue and her brothers, Andrew and John, produced
Gracie. Her husband,
Davis Guggenheim, also produced and directed. Shue played the mother of the main character, who was loosely based on her own experiences as the only girl on a boys' soccer team. Andrew also appeared as the soccer coach, and her previous co-star from
The Trigger Effect,
Dermot Mulroney, played the father of the main character. Andrew initially conceived of it as a story about their late brother William, who was the captain of the high school soccer team; he died in a
freak accident while the family was on a vacation in 1988. The older brother character of Johnny was based on Will. Shue also starred in the little-seen
First Born (2007) with British actor
Steven Mackintosh. In 2008, Shue starred in
Hamlet 2 as a fictionalized version of herself. In the film, she has quit acting to become a nurse, and is the favorite actress of Dana Marschz (
Steve Coogan). In 2009, Shue appeared on the seventh season of
HBO's
Curb Your Enthusiasm as an actress competing with
Cheryl Hines's character for the part of
George's ex-wife for the
Seinfeld reunion. That same year, she starred alongside
Thomas Haden Church in
Don McKay. In 2010, Shue starred in
Piranha 3D as Sheriff Julie Forester. She also played the former groupie mother of
Abigail Breslin in
Janie Jones, and a psychologist in
Waking Madison alongside
Sarah Roemer and
Imogen Poots. In 2012, Shue appeared in three wide-release theatrical films - the thriller
House at the End of the Street with
Jennifer Lawrence,
Curtis Hanson's
Chasing Mavericks opposite
Gerard Butler, and
David Frankel's
Hope Springs as Karen the bartender in a cameo scene with
Meryl Streep. In 2012, Shue returned to television in a series regular role when she joined the cast of season 12's
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as
Julie Finlay opposite
Ted Danson, and replacing
Marg Helgenberger. Finlay is the newest CSI, who just finished anger-management classes. Shue continued in the role until the end of season 15, when her character's fate was left hanging in the balance, later revealed in the two-part 2015 TV movie wrap-up finale of the entire series to have died (Shue did not appear). During her time on the series, being a massive tennis fan, as well as regular tennis player, Shue jokingly suggested to the producers they have an episode centered around a murder at a tennis tournament. In season 13, her wish was granted, and her friends and former pros-turned-commentators, 18-time Grand Slam champion
Chris Evert, three-time Grand Slam winner
Lindsay Davenport, and two-time mixed doubles Slam champ
Justin Gimelstob, appeared in an episode as themselves. Shue also reunited with
Back to the Future alumna
Lea Thompson, who guest-starred in an episode of season 14. , Shue,
Andrea Riseborough,
Emma Stone, and
Billie Jean King at the European premiere of
Battle of the Sexes in 2017 In 2014, Shue appeared as a
cougar in
Behaving Badly along with
Selena Gomez,
Nat Wolff, and
Heather Graham. In 2015, she guest-starred in an episode of the
Patrick Stewart series
Blunt Talk. In 2017, Shue provided a strong supporting role in
Battle of the Sexes, opposite
Steve Carell and
Emma Stone. She had originally signed on as a tennis adviser for the film, which recounts the 1973 showdown between female player
Billie Jean King and former men's champ
Bobby Riggs. In 2018, Shue co-starred in
Eli Roth's remake of
Death Wish opposite
Bruce Willis as his ill-fated wife. In the movie, she was also reunited with
Vincent D'Onofrio, who appeared in
Adventures in Babysitting with her. In 2019, Shue took leading roles, as
Madelyn Stillwell in the American superhero drama television series,
The Boys, with
Karl Urban and
Jack Quaid, and the
TNT television pilot
Constance, playing a corrupt former beauty queen. In the latter, she was one of the executive producers along with Robert Downey, Jr. (with whom she previously co-starred in
Soapdish and
Heart and Souls) and his wife
Susan Downey, among others.
Constance was not going forward to series, so whether the pilot will air as a television movie is unknown. Shue starred in
Greyhound opposite
Tom Hanks, released in 2020. That same year, she reprised her
Karate Kid role as Ali Mills for a guest appearance in the sequel series,
Cobra Kai, alongside her original co-stars
Ralph Macchio and
William Zabka. ==Personal life==