Early work (1984–1988) Graham's first film appearance was an uncredited cameo in
Mrs. Soffel (1984). Her first credited film appearance was in the television film
Student Exchange. In 1986, she appeared on a special "Teen Week" episode of the
NBC game show
Scrabble. Then she appeared in numerous television commercials, and an episode of the sitcom
Growing Pains in 1987. Her first high-profile starring role came in the
Corey Haim/
Corey Feldman vehicle
License to Drive (1988), as a popular girl named Mercedes Lane, who serves as the love interest of Haim's character. Her efforts won her a
Young Artist Award nomination in the Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Fantasy category. Her strict parents forbade her to accept a role in the
black comedy Heathers (1988), which had an expletive-rich script.
From Drugstore Cowboy to Swingers (1989–1996) In 1989, Graham was featured in
Gus Van Sant's
Drugstore Cowboy as Nadine, a young, drug-addicted accomplice of the two main characters (played by
Matt Dillon and
Kelly Lynch). Her performance gave her career an initial boost and earned her a nomination for the
Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress. She rejected a steady role in a soap opera and a three-picture deal with a major studio because she thought it would be too restrictive. After
Drugstore Cowboy, she appeared in
Lawrence Kasdan's dark comedy
I Love You to Death (1990), alongside
William Hurt and
Keanu Reeves, and the rock-and-roll coming-of-age film
Shout (1991), for which she received a nomination for the
Young Artist Award for Best Actress Starring in a Motion Picture. After Graham co-starred with
Benicio del Toro in a
Calvin Klein commercial directed by
David Lynch, the director cast her as Annie Blackburn in
Twin Peaks, where she appeared in the final six episodes. Following the show's cancellation, Graham reprised the role of Blackburn in the 1992 prequel film
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. The same year she co-starred as Mary Kennedy Taylor in
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. In 1995, she starred as Jackie in the poorly received
Desert Winds and guest-starred in an episode of the television series
Fallen Angels. She had a small but important role in
Swingers (1996), where she played Lorraine,
Jon Favreau's love interest. She also played a small role as Maggie Bowen in
Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (1996).
Wider industry and public recognition (1997–2003) Graham's popularity significantly increased after playing a young
porn star in the critically acclaimed film
Boogie Nights (1997). The cast received a nomination for the
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The same year, she also starred in the
Gregg Araki film
Nowhere, and had a cameo in the horror hit
Scream 2 as a fictionalised version of herself, portraying
Casey Becker in the
film within a film Stab. She was subsequently cast in
Two Girls and a Guy (1998), a film mainly based upon dialogue between the characters, shot in 11 days, which co-starred
Robert Downey Jr. and
Natasha Gregson; and the sci-fi film
Lost in Space, which was met with mostly negative reviews, and grossed $69,117,629 domestically on a production budget of $80 million. The cast was signed on for sequels that remain unmade. She starred as
Felicity Shagwell in the sequel
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), which was a box-office hit. Shagwell is one of her best-known roles and became a fan favorite. Her turn as Shagwell also earned her a nomination for the
Saturn Award for Best Actress. She appeared in the music video for
Lenny Kravitz's cover of "
American Woman". Also in 1999, Graham co-starred as Daisy in the movie
Bowfinger, opposite
Steve Martin and
Eddie Murphy. The 2000 film
Committed was her first starring vehicle. She played Joline, a devoted-beyond-reason young wife looking for the husband who left her. While the film itself received mixed reviews, the Rotten Tomatoes summary of critics felt that "Graham shows she can play a central character", but noted "she's not enough to make
Committed successful". The following year, she co-starred as Annie Matthews, an unhappily married woman, in
Edward Burns'
Sidewalks of New York. In 2002, she starred with
Joseph Fiennes in
Chen Kaige's English-language debut film
Killing Me Softly, which received overwhelmingly negative response from critics and a 0% at
Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being: "Respected director Chen Kaige's first English-language film is a spectacularly misguided erotic thriller, with ludicrous plot twists and cringe-worthy dialogue". In 2009, the site also rated it No. 12 on the countdown of the worst films over the last ten years. Graham's other appearances in mainstream fare include playing a fictionalized version of the
Jack the Ripper murder victim
Mary Kelly in the film
From Hell (2001), starring
Johnny Depp;
Anger Management (2003), starring
Adam Sandler and
Jack Nicholson; the
Farrelly Brothers comedy ''
Say It Isn't So (2001), opposite Sally Field; The Guru, co-starring Jimi Mistry, and Hope Springs'' (2003), co-starring
Colin Firth.
Focus on independent films and television (2004–2008) From 2004 to 2008, Graham starred in several independent films
Gray Matters,
Broken,
Adrift in Manhattan (all 2007), and
Miss Conception (2008), most of which received generally negative reviews and went largely unnoticed at the box office. The film premiered at the 2005
Venice Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize, as well as three smaller awards. The film also played at the 2005
Toronto International Film Festival,
Deauville Film Festival, and
San Sebastián International Film Festival, and co-starred
Juliette Binoche,
Forest Whitaker,
Marion Cotillard, and
Matthew Modine. In 2006, she co-starred in
Bobby as Angela; the film's cast was nominated for a
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Graham also spoke about developing a comedy film titled
The Accidental Virgin, which would have focused on "female sexual confusion", telling the story of a woman who has not had sex in a year. The film has not been made. She also stated she would be interested in directing in the future if it is "something that, its burning in my mind that I need to do". Though she did not return for the sequel
The Hangover Part II (2011), she reprised her role in the final installment of the trilogy,
The Hangover Part III (2013). In 2010, she starred in
Boogie Woogie, followed by roles in the unsuccessful films
Father of Invention,
5 Days of War,
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (all 2011), and
About Cherry (2012). Graham was also credited for archive footage of her from
Scream 2 re-used in
Scream 4 (2011). Graham voiced the character of Antonia Bayle in the online
role-playing video game EverQuest 2. She played Meredith Crown in
At Any Price (2012), which stars
Dennis Quaid and
Zac Efron, and was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival, and later screened as an official selection at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals. Other roles include Veronica, The Waitress in
Horns (2013), mob lawyer Annette Stratton-Osborne in
Behaving Badly (2014), and short story writer Mary Bellanova in
My Dead Boyfriend (2016). She wrote a comedy screenplay called
Half Magic, which in 2013 she stated she wanted to direct. She said the story focuses on "these female friends and sexuality and about people having a sense of shame about sexuality and learning how to have a healthier attitude about it [...] It also deals with male/female relationships and sexism". The film was released in 2018. In 2012, she was a member of the jury of the 15th
Shanghai International Film Festival. In 2014, she starred in the second adaptation of the
V. C. Andrews novel
Flowers in the Attic on the Lifetime network. She played the character of Corrine Dollanganger, an evil mother who locks her four children in an attic to receive an inheritance from her dying father. Graham also appeared in two TV films sequels based on the V.C. Andrews' series:
Petals on the Wind and
If There Be Thorns, continuing to play the role of Corrine Dollanganger. She appeared in the final season of
Californication as the mother of
David Duchovny's long-lost son. In 2015, the did the role of a life time, her biggest achievement, Jessica Rose in the Call of duty Black Ops 3 Zombies map Shadows of Evil. In 2018, she co-starred in the
David Cross dark comedy series
Bliss, which was released by the
BritBox streaming service. It starred
Stephen Mangan as Andrew, a fraudulent
travel writer, who struggles to maintain long-term relationships with two partners, Kim (Graham) and Denise (
Jo Hartley), who are not aware of one another. In 2023, Graham starred as Charlotte Sanders in the Netflix Christmas-themed film
Best. Christmas. Ever! alongside
Brandy Norwood,
Jason Biggs and
Matt Cedeño. Graham wrote, directed, and starred in
Chosen Family, which was released in 2024. == Activism ==