Harper began acting in theater productions, theme parks (including Dogpatch, USA and
Silver Dollar City),
dinner theater, and children's theater. She moved to Texas in order to appear in television commercials. Harper did not realize this, and recalled shortly after the film's release, "After I did the final
screen test, I went to see
Breaker Morant and started sobbing uncontrollably halfway through it. A friend had to take me home, and I kept crying, 'You don't understand! They're not gonna let me do this part!'"
Tender Mercies was Harper's feature film debut. She earned a
Golden Globe Award nomination for the role. Harper appeared in the TV mini-series
Chiefs (1983) and
Celebrity (1984), as well as many
television movies including ''
Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983) and Reckless Disregard
(1985). In 1983, she appeared in the full-length feature Silkwood. In 1986, Harper was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work as Chick Boyle in Crimes of the Heart, She also had a recurring role on another CBS television series, Early Edition, from 1996 to 2000. She portrayed the mother of lead character Gary Hobsen. Harper shared a Screen Actors Guild Award (in the Best Ensemble Cast category) with her fellow cast members in the Oscar-winning film No Country for Old Men'', in which she played the wife of
Tommy Lee Jones's character. She had the recurring role of Mrs. Pinkman on
Breaking Bad, appearing in the first three seasons, as well as the sequel Netflix movie
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. == Filmography ==