At the age of twelve, Potter started modeling and appearing in commercials in Chicago and Miami, before deciding to pursue an acting career. Her very first role on television was as a "Dalina" in the English version of the Peruvian TV show Nubeluz. Then she found a role on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless as Sharon Abbott in 1994. She has since appeared in several feature films, including Con Air (playing the wife of Nicolas Cage's character) and starring opposite Robin Williams in Patch Adams. In 1998, she also played the love interest, and eventual girlfriend, of Steve Prefontaine in the movie Without Limits. In 2001, she had two major roles, co-starring with Freddie Prinze Jr. in Head Over Heels, and with Morgan Freeman in the thriller Along Came a Spider. She was a series regular on Boston Legal but left after the first season. She was also in the Alan Jackson music video for "Tall Tall Trees".

Adam Duritz of Counting Crows wrote the song "Mrs. Potter's Lu