In 1995, Willis made her film debut alongside her mother in
Now and Then. The following year she appeared in
Striptease (1996). She has worked with her father three times: in
The Whole Nine Yards in 2000,
Hostage in 2005 and
Air Strike in 2018. She portrayed Joanne in the comedy film
The House Bunny (2008) alongside
Emma Stone,
Colin Hanks and
Anna Faris. The film was a commercial success, grossing $70 million worldwide. She played Natalie Wilburn in the horror film
From Within (2008), which premiered at the
Tribeca Film Festival on April 25, 2008. In 2009, she appeared in two films, the slasher film
Sorority Row and the high school comedy film
Wild Cherry. She won the "Breakthrough Performance Female" award at
Young Hollywood Awards for her performance in
Wild Cherry. She was nominated for "Choice Movie Actress: Horror/Thriller" at
Teen Choice Awards for
Sorority Row. In 2013, Willis landed the lead role of Maya in the drama film
The Odd Way Home. She also appeared in films ''
There's Always Woodstock (2014), Return to Sender (2014), The Escort (2015) and Hello Again'' (2017). She had guest roles in television shows
Miss Guided,
Army Wives,
CSI: NY,
Medium, The Secret Life of the American Teenager,
Hawaii Five-0 and
Workaholics. Willis portrayed Gia Mannetti in ten episodes of the teen drama television series
90210 (2009–2010). In May 2013,
The Hollywood Reporter announced that Willis will portray Zoe in the fourth season of
Freeform's teen drama series
Pretty Little Liars. She was a judge at
Miss USA beauty pageant in 2014. In May 2015, Willis and professional dancer
Valentin Chmerkovskiy won season 20 of
ABC's dance competition television series
Dancing with the Stars. From September 21 to November 1, 2015, Willis starred as
Roxie Hart in
Chicago on
Broadway.
W magazine noted that the past six months have been "a major breakout" for Willis."
W magazine praised "her astonishing routines on the spring season of the show
Dancing with the Stars, which she won with her partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy, that propelled Willis to new heights of fame. It also revealed the actress-singer to be a triple threat." She became a series regular in
Empire during the show's fourth season. In 2019, she appeared as a guest co-host in three episodes of
CBS' talk show
The Talk. On February 20, 2019, she was revealed to be "Lion" on the
first season of
Fox's
reality singing competition series
The Masked Singer. She finished in the fifth place.
Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Willis had commanded the stage with her vocal prowess and magnetic presence during the last eight weeks of the competition, proving time and again how powerful and versatile her singing skills truly are." Willis portrayed
Joanna Pettet in the
comedy drama film
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) written and directed by
Quentin Tarantino. The film has grossed $368.9 million worldwide, with
The Hollywood Reporter writing that critics had "an overall positive view" of the film, calling it "Tarantino's love letter to '60s L.A." She portrayed sex worker Kayla in the social impact film
Maya (2023), which raises awareness on
child trafficking,
domestic violence,
alcoholism and
child abuse. Inspired by real events, the film shows how predators use
social media to lure teenagers. She plays Ren in the
comedy film My Divorce Party (2024), which follows a group of friends celebrating soon-to-be divorced Xan's, played by Desiree Staples, split. Xan decides to burn her divorce settlement money, but each friend has a different plan in mind.
Other ventures She has appeared on the cover of several magazines, such as
Page Six,
Prestige,
Us Weekly and
The House Magazine and pictorials for
Vanity Fair, ''
Harper's Bazaar and The Sunday Times''. In 2008, Willis ventured into the role of
spokesperson for clothing brand
Ocean Pacific. In August 2023, the nursery at her house was featured in an issue of
Architectural Digest. In November 2023, she partnered with Bumpsuit to create a
baby carrier, titled Rumer Willis ‘Lou Blue’ x Bumpsuit.
Dancing with the Stars On February 24, 2015, Willis was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on
season 20 of
Dancing with the Stars. Her professional partner was
Valentin Chmerkovskiy. Her performance during week 1 earned her the highest score of the night (32 out of 40), and her performance during two rounds of competition in week 8 landed her two perfect scores. On May 19, 2015, Willis and Chmerkovskiy were crowned the season's champions, winning over singer and actor
Riker Lynch and army veteran
Noah Galloway who took second and third place, respectively. Willis joined partner
Valentin Chmerkovskiy and other
Dancing with the Stars professionals on the 40-city "Dancing with the Stars: Perfect 10 Tour" during the summer of 2015. == Personal life ==