She was born on November 14, 1962 in West Orange, New Jersey. Her interest in acting was inflamed at Morris Knolls High School in nearby Denville, where she acted in several school plays. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama with a degree in Fine Arts. Her first major movie role was in 1989's Sex, Lies, and Videotape for which she received an award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and a Golden Globe nomination. In it she plays Andie MacDowell's sister and dramatically and passionately screws her husband, which I can understand. Critics raved at her performance as being one of the most sensual of that year. She also gave noteworthty performances in Pretty Woman and Nina Takes a Lover. During the 1990s she enjoyed success on screen and on stage, appearing in several regional and Off-Broadway theater productions. In 1997 she was cast in the role of Maya Gallo in NBC's Just Shoot Me, a situation comedy until it went off the air in August 2003.
She was married to a fellow named Cameron Dye from 1990 to 1998 and had one son in 1996. Their son, Mason, has cerebral palsy and cannot walk unassisted. Several fan sites remarked that his disability is one of the major reasons she has chosen a TV career instead of doing more movies.