She portrayed Poppy Norton-Taylor in a 2001 theatre play called Noises Off. She later starred in Richard Nelson’s production Madame Neville that featured Macaulay Culkin and Joely Richardson. For her brilliant performance in that play, she earned Drama Desk as well as Lucille Lorte Award nominations. In Anton Chekhov’s popular production, The Seagull she played Mansha, the very same year. The first TV series that she worked in was Twelfth Night, Or What You Will which aired in 1998. In 1999 she played Whitney in Heart to Heart.com. She also worked as a guest star in “Law & Order, NYPD Blue and Without a Trace, which was among the highly rated TV series then. Her performance in all those TV series caught the eye of director Mike Nicholas, who then decided to cast her as Mormon Mother in the highly praised sitcom Angel In America. She then started doing small but impressive roles in films such as The Sleepy Time Gal, the straight-to-video titled What I Came For as well as Two Weeks Notice.

She is best to know for her role in Deadwood in which she played a foul-mouthed woman named Calamity Jane. This role and her performance made her well known in the hearts of viewers and in the minds of critics as well. Her performance in this series earned her Prism Award for Performance in a Drama Series and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series but the biggest achievement was being nominated for the Emmy in the category Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

She also made guest appearances in the TV series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Judging Amy, Cold Case, Law & Order, Special Victims Unit, Numb3rs and life. Although she is mostly known for her acting in TV shows, she did some movies as well to name a few, she appeared in Loggerheads, The Good German, Things We Lost in the Fire, Synecdoche, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, My One and Only, The Undying, The Sessions, Concussion, Pawn Sacrifice, Take Me to the River. Her new movie which is expected to release in 2016 is called Pushing Dead.

Although she is well known, she has kept her personal life away from the media. Information regarding her marriage, husband and children is not available on the internet and also in any of the interviews that she has done. Although she has been reported of being married and also having a son but it's not confirmed by her so it's unlikely to be true. There is so much confusion regarding her personal life that some even say that she has had a divorce, which is most likely to be just a rumour. Although her salary is not known, her net worth is estimated to be around $200,000.