While working in
Denver on a fashion shoot, one of the photographers mistook Wilson for a model and then introduced her to a New York modeling agent who signed her on the spot. Wilson then moved to
Manhattan, and within 18 months, she had appeared in over 30 commercial campaigns for
Clairol, Sea Breeze, Keri-Lotion, and
Maybelline. Her print work ran in such popular magazines as
Mademoiselle,
Glamour, and
Redbook. After three years of modeling, Wilson moved to
Los Angeles for a career in acting. Her first roles included the black comedy film
Crimewave (1985) directed by
Sam Raimi,
Velvet (1984), an
ABC/
Aaron Spelling television movie opposite
Leah Ayres,
Shari Belafonte, and
Mary Margaret Humes, and a guest role on the espionage series
Cover Up (1984). She had a lead role with
Tim Robbins in the comedy motion picture
Fraternity Vacation (1985) and also appeared in a
CBS television miniseries
Kane & Abel (1985) with
Peter Strauss. This immediately led to
Our Family Honor (1985–1986), an ABC drama about
Irish cops versus the
Mafia, in which she co-starred with
Ray Liotta,
Michael Madsen, and
Eli Wallach. Her career continued to flourish with a role in the television movie
News at Eleven (1986) alongside
Martin Sheen. Wilson gained the role as
April Stevens Ewing on the CBS soap opera
Dallas (1986–1991). Her character was gunned down in the final season during her honeymoon (with new husband Bobby Ewing) in Paris. She continued to make some appearances in Bobby's dream sequences later that season. In reality, Wilson was killed off and left the series due to maternity. Her performance earned her the
Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Death Scene in 1991, as well as four other nominations. In 2006, she attended the TV Land Award ceremony for
Dallas and in November 2008, the
Dallas 30th anniversary reunion party at
Southfork Ranch in
Parker, Texas, with cast members
Larry Hagman,
Patrick Duffy,
Linda Gray,
Ken Kercheval,
Steve Kanaly, and
Charlene Tilton. In 1993, following guest roles in the television series
Matlock (opposite
Clarence Gilyard's former acting mentor,
Andy Griffith), ''
Burke's Law, and Renegade (opposite Lorenzo Lamas), Wilson played the lead female role in Hellbound opposite Chuck Norris, which led to her best-known role as Alexandra "Alex" Cahill-Walker also opposite Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001). In 2005, she reprised her role in the television movie Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire which ended with her character being the victim of a courthouse shooting. This left many viewers to believe that there would be a follow-up movie which was severely impaired when CBS said that they would no longer be producing "Sunday Night Movie of the Week" projects. She also co-starred in the Showtime movie Past Tense'' (1994). In 2006, Wilson appeared in
Fragile, the first short film by documentary filmmaker
Fredric Lean. She played the lead role in television movies
Mystery Woman: Game Time (2005) and ''Anna's Storm
(2007). She produced and starred in independent films Killing Down
(2006), The Gundown
(2011), Easy Rider: The Ride Back (2012), and Dug Up
(2013). She co-starred in the television series Pink
(2007–2008) and had a guest role in the television series DeVanity (2014). She played a major role in the television movie Christmas Belle
(2013), A Mermaid for Christmas
(2019), and The Silent Natural'' (2019). Wilson performed in the role of Miss Daisy Werthan in the Neil Simon Film Festival's
Driving Miss Daisy (2016–2022) opposite her former
Walker, Texas Ranger co-star, Clarence Gilyard. ==Personal life==