Petty got her break playing a terrorist named Skunk on the ABC daytime soap opera
All My Children in 1985. She later made guest starring appearances on television series such as
The Equalizer,
The Twilight Zone,
Head of the Class,
Miami Vice and ''
Freddy's Nightmares. In 1987 she starred in the made-for-television horror film Bates Motel. The following year she appeared in the made-for-television movie Police Story: Monster Manor, and was regular cast member in the short-lived comedy series, The Thorns. In 1989, Petty co-starred in the made-for-television movie Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder and from 1989 to 1990 was regular cast member in the Fox crime drama, Booker''. In 1990, Petty made her film debut as
Robin Williams's wannabe fashion designer girlfriend in the dark comedy
Cadillac Man. The following year, Petty played the surfer who taught
Keanu Reeves how to surf in the 1991 action thriller
Point Break directed by
Kathryn Bigelow. In 1992, Petty starred in the sports comedy-drama film,
A League of Their Own directed by
Penny Marshall starring opposite
Tom Hanks,
Geena Davis and
Madonna. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $132.4 million worldwide. The following year she went to star in the family drama film
Free Willy. Released on July 16, 1993, the film received positive attention from critics and was a commercial success, grossing $153.7 million from a $20 million budget. Later that year, Petty appeared in the urban romantic drama film
Poetic Justice directed by
John Singleton, in a movie being viewed during the film. In 1994 she starred in the police drama film
The Glass Shield. It received positive reviews but was released only in selected theaters. Also in 1994, Petty starred in the comedy film
In the Army Now. It was universally panned by critics but grossed $28,881,266 at the box office. Despite the box-office failure of the film, it has since become a cult classic and has been noted for its feminist themes. Petty also
provided the voice of the
supervillain Livewire on the
Warner Bros. series
Superman: The Animated Series and
The New Batman Adventures, and the video game
Superman: Shadow of Apokolips. Although she was originally cast as Lt. Lenina Huxley in
Demolition Man, disagreements over the character's direction led producer
Joel Silver to recast the role with
Sandra Bullock. From 1998 to 1999 she had the recurring role on
Brimstone as the owner of Stone's hotel. She narrated the first three books of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series—
One for the Money,
Two for the Dough and
Three to Get Deadly in 2002. C. J. Critt read the unabridged version for Recorded Books. Petty read the abridgments for Simon & Schuster. In 2006 she starred in
The Fair Haired Child, the episode of Showtime horror-anthology series
Masters of Horror. She had the recurring role as Janice Burke, a woman with
Huntington's disease, in the Fox series
House from 2008 to 2009, and the following year played the role of "Daddy", an
alpha female inmate, in
Prison Break and its spin-off movie,
Prison Break: The Final Break. Petty directed and wrote the 2008 independent drama film
The Poker House—a film dramatizing her own difficult childhood In 2014, Petty was cast as Lolly Whitehill, an inmate with an interest in conspiracy theories in the Netflix comedy-drama series,
Orange Is the New Black. Since 2024 she has played recurring character Dr. Lenora Friedman on
NCIS: Origins. ==Filmography==