Her family is of "three-quarters Irish" descent, with her father's side from County Cork. Her younger sister, Aimee Graham, is also an actress, and writer. Her mother, Joan (née Bransfield), is a teacher and author of children's books and her father, James Graham, is a retired FBI agent. She was raised Catholic, but is non-practicing. Her family relocated repeatedly before moving to Agoura Hills, California, when she was 9 years old.
She was introduced to acting during a school production of The Wizard of Oz.Īfter high school, Graham enrolled in extension classes at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she studied English for two years. Against her parents' wishes, Graham withdrew from UCLA to pursue acting full-time. Graham's first film appearance was an uncredited cameo in Mrs. Her first credited film appearance was in the television film Student Exchange. In 1986, she appeared on a special "Teen Week" episode of the NBC game show Scrabble. Then she appeared in numerous television commercials, and an episode of the sitcom Growing Pains in 1987.
Her first high-profile starring role came in the Corey Haim/ Corey Feldman vehicle License to Drive (1988), as a popular girl named Mercedes Lane, who serves as the love interest of Haim's character. Her efforts won her a Young Artist Award nomination in the Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Fantasy category. Her strict parents forbade her to accept a role in the black comedy Heathers (1988), which had an expletive-rich script. From Drugstore Cowboy to Swingers (1989–1996) The same year, she had an uncredited appearance as Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger's mother in Twins (during the laboratory conception flashback). In 1989, Graham was featured in Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy as Nadine, a young, drug-addicted accomplice of the two main characters (played by Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch). Her performance gave her career an initial boost and earned her a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress.
She rejected a steady role in a soap opera and a three-picture deal with a major studio because she thought it would be too restrictive.