1990s Shelton made her on-screen debut as Roberto's girlfriend at camp in
Grand Canyon. She subsequently appeared in 1992's television movie
Up to No Good playing Denise Harmon, and had several guest-appearances in episodes of shows such as
Family Matters,
Camp Wilder and
Crossroads. Shelton found her profile raised significantly when she appeared in the 1993 film
The Sandlot, playing the lifeguard Wendy Peffercorn. The movie received mixed feedback from critics and writers and, budgeted at US$7 million, was a box office success with a worldwide gross of over US$33 million. It has since developed a
cult following. In 1994, Shelton had a supporting part in
Hercules in the Underworld, the fourth
made-for-television movie in the series
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The following year, she was cast in a minor role, as former President Nixon's adult daughter
Tricia Nixon Cox, in
Oliver Stone's acclaimed film
Nixon, and guest-appeared in the television series
Cybill episode "The Big Sleep-Over". Shelton next co-starred alongside
Lynda Carter in
When Friendship Kills (1996), a
made-for-television film about anorexia nervosa among teens. 1997 saw Shelton appear in the romantic comedy
Trojan War, opposite
Jennifer Love Hewitt, Both films rated poorly with reviewers and failed to attract audiences, but
James Berardinelli singled out Shelton for her performance in
Warriors of Virtue, writing that her character is "the only one in the film that we develop any real interest in, and the script, apparently unable to deal with a personality having the potential to display more than one dimension, discards her perfunctorily and inelegantly". A major film role came in 1998 with the fantasy comedy
Pleasantville, in which Shelton portrayed Margaret, the love interest of
Tobey Maguire's character. The movie did not find a wide audience in theaters, but received an extremely positive reaction from critics. This role was followed by a number of other appearances in films aimed at a teenage audience, including her role as a member of a snobby high school clique in 1999's
sleeper hit Never Been Kissed, a romantic comedy co-starring
Drew Barrymore and
David Arquette. In 1999, Shelton also played the sister of a newly engaged woman in the critically panned romantic comedy
The Bachelor, opposite
Renée Zellweger, starred alongside
Dennis Hopper in the independent drama
Lured Innocence, and was cast by her father in the short
Protect-O-Man, a black comedy about "an agoraphobic whose disorder is augmented by a stalker on the prowl in her neighborhood", as described by
Cinema Review.
2000s Shelton took on significant roles in three feature films in 2001, which despite varying degrees of success, helped her establish herself as an up-and-coming actress. She starred in
Francine McDougall's teen crime
dark comedy Sugar & Spice, and Brian Orndorf of
Film Fodder wrote: "The star who emerges from
Spice unscathed is Marley Shelton. She achieves the unthinkable with this script by managing to create somewhat of a character for herself. A clear-eyed beauty, Shelton steals the film away from the sizable cast. She emerges as the only thing to recommend in the muddled and compromised
Sugar & Spice." Budgeted at US$11 million, the film made US$16.9 million worldwide and became somewhat of a
cult favorite afterwards. In the slasher film
Valentine, Shelton appeared opposite
Denise Richards as friends who are being stalked by an unknown assailant while preparing for
Valentine's Day. Released one week after
Sugar and Spice, the film grossed a modest US$36 million worldwide and was largely panned.
Mick LaSalle for
San Francisco Chronicle, nevertheless, felt that the lead actors were "vivid, and the characters they play are clearly delineated", while he pointed out Shelton for having a "nice gravity" portraying her role. Her final film of 2001 was the comedy
Bubble Boy, loosely based on the story of
David Vetter, in which she played the love interest of a man living in a sterilized dome (
Jake Gyllenhaal). A
CNN reviewer found the production to be "stupid and devoid of any redeeming features", but Orndorf felt that Shelton made a "strong impression with her empathetic performance and her glowing good looks". After focusing on studio features, Shelton appeared in a variety of independent films —she portrayed a troubled modern dancer in the dark comedy
Just a Kiss (2002), with
Kyra Sedgwick and
Marisa Tomei, the dream girl of a mafia debt collector in the drama
Dallas 362 (2003), and the love interest of producer
Phil Kaufman in the dramedy
Grand Theft Parsons (2003).
Moving Alan, an independent production directed by her father, featured both Shelton and her sister
Samantha. In 2005, Shelton made a brief but notable appearance as The Customer in the opening sequence of the successful film adaptation of
Frank Miller's graphic novel
Sin City. In 2006, she played small roles in
Paul Weitz's black comedy
American Dreamz and
Tony Goldwyn's drama
The Last Kiss. Shelton found larger attention for appearing in the lead role of Dr. Dakota Block in the
Robert Rodriguez—
Quentin Tarantino horror double feature picture
Grindhouse, appearing in both of the film's segments (a cameo in Tarantino's segment, and a starring role in Rodriguez's). Delighted to work on "playing with the ideas of building suspense" with Rodriguez and Tarantino, who she described as "masters of their craft", she based her character in the female leads in
Alfred Hitchcock's movies, specifically
Tippi Hedren. The picture's ticket sales were significantly below box office analysts' expectations despite largely positive critic reviews. In 2008, Shelton had a brief role as one of
George W. Bush's girlfriends in Oliver Stone's biopic film
W. and took on her first full-time television role in
CBS's crime thriller series
Eleventh Hour, appearing as FBI Special Agent Rachel Young. The show earned mixed reviews and was canceled after one season due to its inability to hold the CSI audience lead-in. Robert Bianco wrote for
USA Today that she has "no character to play at all, or at least none that stays consistent between the two episodes made available for review", while
Chicago Tribune remarked that her performance was "much less interesting" than co-star
Rufus Sewell's and that whenever her character "opens her mouth, the show’s flaws come into sharp relief". In 2009, Shelton played an offbeat tourist, opposite
Milla Jovovich and
Timothy Olyphant, in the psychological thriller
A Perfect Getaway, and landed the leading role of Madeleine Gray, a trendy New York art gallery owner, in the independent comedy
(Untitled). Describing her role in
(Untitled) during interview with
Los Angeles Times, she stated: "There's a purity to her. As driven as she is to find the 'get,' the next hot commodity, she also has a pure passion for art." Despite a very limited release, the film drew positive reviews.
Roger Ebert remarked that Shelton "has the confidence and presence of a born comedienne", and writing for
The New York Times,
Stephen Holden stated that she "gives a bright screwball performance that recalls the frisky young
Diane Keaton". Her final 2009 film release was the independent ensemble comedy
Women in Trouble, in which she portrayed a flight attendant and one in a group of several women in
Los Angeles whose their lives interconnect in the course of one day. Joe Neumaier for the
New York Daily News considered the film to be a "forced, charmless multi-character [production]", but Tyler Foster of
DVD Talk felt that Shelton made a "brief impact" in her role.
2010s Shelton reprised her
Women in Trouble role for
Elektra Luxx (2010), which
Los Angeles Times described as "a rambunctious affection for women and appreciation for flamboyant production design". She next portrayed Deputy Judy Hicks in the
Wes Craven slasher sequel
Scream 4 (2011). Having previously auditioned for the role of
Tatum Riley, played by
Rose McGowan, in
Scream (1996), she obtained the part of Judy Hicks after
Lake Bell dropped out only four days before filming was scheduled to begin. The film made US$97 million globally and garnered largely mixed reviews from critics; Matthew Turner for
View London remarked that Shelton turned in an "enjoyably weird performance". In
The Mighty Macs, an independent sports drama, Shelton reunited with Carla Gugino, taking on the role of Sister Sunday, a nun of
Immaculata University and the assistant coach of
Cathy Rush. The film was released in theaters in October 2011, more than three years after it was filmed, due to the difficulties of finding a distributor. Reviewer Nell Minow praised Shelton, writing that she "shows us how the sister’s faith supports her strength and integrity". She also had guest-roles in episodes of ''
Harry's Law and Mad Men'' in 2011 and 2013, respectively. Spanish filmmaker Francisco Lorite's short film
Mediation, in which Shelton starred with
Freddy Rodriguez as a couple whose "divorce mediation [...] spirals completely out of control", was screened in
Los Angeles, as part of the 2014 NewFilmmakers Film Festival, where she was nominated for Best Performance in a Comedy. Shelton played the ill-fated sister of a woman tireless researching for the cure for
breast cancer, alongside
Samantha Morton and
Helen Hunt, in
Steven Bernstein's independent drama
Decoding Annie Parker (2014), which was released for limited markets. The part of a doctor who successfully fertilized embryos in a
dystopian future when women have stopped having children due to an infertility pandemic in the Lifetime television series
The Lottery (also 2014) was Shelton's second leading role on a television series following
Eleventh Hour. While Allison Keene of
The Hollywood Reporter highlighted the series' "female lead" and focus on "a women’s issue", James Ponniewozik of
Time criticized the decision to introduce Shelton's character as "a woman on the prowl for a baby daddy".
The Lottery aired for one season. Shelton played the wife of an FBI special agent, opposite
Anthony Hopkins and
Colin Farrell, in the psychological thriller
Solace (2015). She next starred as one half of a couple on the verge of divorce in
Heaven Sent (2016), which premiered as a
Christmas film for
Lifetime. The
NBC musical drama series
Rise (2018), inspired by the 2013 book
Drama High by Michael Sokolove, featured Shelton as the wife of an English teacher. The production earned mixed reviews, and like
Eleventh Hour and
The Lottery, it was cancelled after one season. She also made a brief appearance as a scientist and astronaut in the science fiction monster film
Rampage (2018), which made over US$428 million worldwide.
2020s In 2020, Shelton had a recurring arc as a woman manipulated by a bomber in the second season of
Manhunt. Daniel Fienberg of
The Hollywood Reporter praised her for adding "depth" to the story. She reprised her role of Judy Hicks in
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and
Tyler Gillett's
Scream (2022), the fifth installment in the
Scream film series and the first in the franchise not to be directed by
Wes Craven following his death in 2015. The film grossed over US$140million globally. From 2022 to 2023, Shelton portrayed Emma Dutton in the
Yellowstone spinoff
1923, which also featured
Harrison Ford and
Helen Mirren. In 2025, she played a three-episode role as a grieving mother in the first season of
CBS's
Matlock, opposite
Kathy Bates. == Personal life ==