Following this success, Carrere returned to
Los Angeles, and after working several months as a model, was hired in early 1985 for her first television role, a guest appearance on an episode of the American series
Airwolf; the episode aired in November 1985, after her first on-screen television appearance, in a March 1985 episode of
Cover Up. Her first major breakthrough was in the daytime soap opera
General Hospital, where she played the role of Jade Soong Chung from 1985 to 1987. She had a guest appearance on
The A-Team, which was supposed to lead to her joining the cast; her
General Hospital obligations, however, prevented her from joining the team, so her character was dropped after one episode, and was never mentioned again. She also made guest appearances on
MacGyver as a karate instructor in the episode "The Wish Child" and later as an assassin in the episode "Murderer's Sky". She also appeared on
Anything but Love as the adopted daughter of Marty Gold (
Richard Lewis), and on an episode of
Married... with Children as Piper Bauman, a modelling rival of
Kelly Bundy. After appearing in the 1991 action films
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man and
Showdown in Little Tokyo, she emerged into the public spotlight when cast as Cassandra, a rock singer and love interest of
Mike Myers's character, Wayne Campbell, in ''
Wayne's World (1992), a role she reprised the next year in Wayne's World 2. A trained singer, Carrere performed all of her own songs in the first film, and the Wayne's World
soundtrack features her vocals. She turned down a role in Baywatch to audition for Wayne's World
. In 1992, People'' named her to its annual "50 most beautiful people" list. Other roles in prominent films include the parts of wealthy smuggler Juno Skinner in
True Lies, a 1994
Arnold Schwarzenegger action film; a mixed African-Japanese computer expert in
Rising Sun, a thriller co-written for the screen by
Michael Crichton and based on his novel, starring
Sean Connery and
Wesley Snipes; robber Gina Walker in
The Immortals in 1995; and secretary Victoria Chappell in
High School High, a 1996 parody. She also starred as Ari, a space marine turned pirate, in the 1995 adventure/puzzle game
The Daedalus Encounter. She appeared as the evil witch/queen in the 1997 Universal Films picture
Kull the Conqueror, co-starring versus
Kevin Sorbo, and starred in late-'90s
M&M's commercials as herself. At the end of the decade, she was cast as Ana Ishikawa in the motion picture of the comic book character
Shi, which went unproduced. '' in May 2009 From 1999 to 2002, Carrere starred as archeology professor Sydney Fox in
Relic Hunter, a syndicated action-adventure series reminiscent of
Indiana Jones and
Tomb Raider. At this time, Carrere was featured in the men's magazine
Maxim.
Relic Hunter lasted for three contracted television seasons. Carrere then provided the voice of Lilo's sister
Nani in the animated film
Lilo & Stitch (2002) and its sequels and spinoffs through 2006, later returning in the live-action
Lilo & Stitch (2025) as a new character named Mrs. Kekoa, who is Nani's social worker in that film. She also provided the voice of Queen Tyr'ahnee in the
Duck Dodgers animated series (2003–2005) and Snookie in the 2005 animated film
Aloha, Scooby-Doo! She participated as a contestant on the popular reality show
Dancing with the Stars, and eventually placed sixth overall. Carrere later participated in the
fifth season of
The Celebrity Apprentice, but her "apprenticeship" to
Donald Trump, the "boss" of the show, was terminated in that season's fifth week. Carrere posed nude for the January 2003 issue of
Playboy. The photos were republished in the German December 2006 issue of the magazine. She has appeared as a guest star on a number of television shows, including
Back to You,
Nip/Tuck, and
Warehouse 13. She has also appeared in several episodes of season six of
Curb Your Enthusiasm as Richard Lewis's girlfriend. In 2020, Carrere played Lady Danger in all ten episodes of the
Netflix series
AJ and the Queen. ==Music career==