Turned to drama in high school after failing to make it as a cheerleader

Accepted John Malkovich's invitation to join Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre

Worked as secretary at an educational film company

Made Off-Broadway debut in a New York production of "And a Nightingale Sang"

Screen acting debut, "Compromising Positions"

TV debut in miniseries, "Evergreen" (NBC); her character aged from a teenager to a 50-year-old

First film with director Francis Ford Coppola, "Peggy Sue Got Married"

Starred as Ann Deever in "American Playhouse" presentation of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" (PBS)

Broadway debut, "Burn This"; co-starred with John Malkovich; won a Tony for Best Actress

Nominated for a Tony as Heidi Holland in Wendy Wasserstein's "The Heidi Chronicles"; appeared opposite future husband Peter Friedman

Portrayed Jeff Bridges' wife in Coppola's "Tucker: The Man and His Dream"

Was Emily Lloyd's mother in Norman Jewison's "In Country"

Essayed the role of Sarah Brady (wife of James Brady) in HBO's "Without Warning: The James Brady Story" co-starring Beau Bridges

Played mother of young chess prodigy (and Joe Mantegna's wife) in "Searching for Bobby Fischer"

Breakthrough screen role as Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone's biopic "Nixon"; earned first Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress

Earned second Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance as Daniel Day-Lewis' severe wife in "The Crucible"

Portrayed John Travolta's wife in "Face/Off"

Co-starred with Kevin Kline in Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm"; played Tobey Maguire's mother

Played yet another repressed housewife who blossoms in the satirical "Pleasantville"; first film with Jeff Daniels; played sitcom mother whose "son" was portrayed by Tobey Maguire

Had featured role as Daniels' wife in "It's the Rage/All the Rage"; screened at the Toronto Film Festival

Provided a voice for "New York: A Documentary Film" (PBS' "The American Experience")

Starred in the fictionalized biopic of slain Irish journalist Veronica Guerin, "Though the Sky Falls" (aired in USA on Cinemax)

Portrayed a prospective US Vice President stained by a sexual scandal in "The Contender"; reteamed with Jeff Bridges who played the US President; earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination

Cast alongside Anjelica Huston and Samantha Mathis in the TNT miniseries "The Mists of Avalon"

Featured in the film "The Notebook" directed by Nick Cassavetes

Starred as CIA director, Pamela Landy in "The Bourne Supremacy" based on the novel by Robert Ludlum

Starred with Sam Elliott in "Off the Map" directed by Campbell Scott

Starred as an alcoholic single mother of four in Mike Binder's "The Upside of Anger"; screened at sundance

Starred as an Irish-American scientist who begins a passionate love affair with Middle-Eastern man in Sally Potter's "Yes"

Reprised her role as Pamela Landy in "The Bourne Ultimatum" starring Matt Damon

Co-starred in the drama, "Bonneville" with Kathy Bates and Jessica Lange

Co-starred in Paul W.S. Anderson's remake of the 1975 film "Death Race"