Her first film role was in James Cameron's Aliens (1986), as the Hispanic character PFC Jenette Vasquez. Due to its title, she initially thought the film was about immigration and arrived at her audition for the part of a tough-as-nails space marine in a short skirt and high heels. She also appeared as the vampire Diamondback in Near Dark (1987), Officer Meagan Shapiro in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Janelle Voight in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), the USS Enterprise science officer in Star Trek Generations (1994), and an Irish immigrant mother in Titanic (1997).