A telesales operative becomes disillusioned with his existence and begins to hunger for fresh excitement in his life. As he experiences a new awakening of the senses, his wife and daughter also undergo changes that seriously affect their family. Critically acclaimed, this film won Oscars for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Picture. Allison played Barbara Fitts, a catatonic housewife, giving a powerful, subtle, understated performance that drew her critical recognition.

Allison’s role as Loretta in this cult classic beauty pageant mockumentary is probably her most remembered early role; and with good reason - she steals every scene as this boozy flirt with a Minnesota accent.

Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is beautiful, smart and quite abrasive to most of her fellow teens, meaning that she doesn't attract many boys. Unfortunately for her younger sister, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), house rules say that she can't date until Kat has a boyfriend, so strings are pulled to set the dour damsel up for a romance. Allison has a small but now iconic and oft-remembered role as the guidance counselor Ms. Perky in this teen adaptation of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.

The career and personal life of writer Lee (Kenneth Branagh) are at a standstill, so he divorces his bashful wife, Robin (Judy Davis), and dives into a new job as an entertainment journalist. Allison plays Evelyn Isaacs. Click below to hear Allison’s 2017 interview in which she talks about Celebrity and her run in with Donald Trump on set.

In the South Pacific island of Makatea, career-driven magazine editor Robin Monroe (Anne Heche) is on a week-long vacation getaway with her boyfriend, Frank Martin (David Schwimmer). A work assignment in neighboring Tahiti requires Robin to hire a cargo plane piloted by the cantankerous Quinn Harris (Harrison Ford). But when a powerful storm forces Quinn to make an emergency landing on a nearby deserted island, the dissimilar pair learn to set aside their differences in order to find rescue. Allison plays Robin’s boss. Watch her clips here:

A couple of second-rate actors (Stanley Tucci, Oliver Platt) on the run from the cops hide out among the oddball characters aboard a luxury liner. Allison plays Maxine.

This is a classic Jennifer Aniston-Paul Rudd 90s rom-com in which Aniston’s character falls for her gay best friend while pregnant. Allison plays Aniston’s rich and fashionable sister Constance Miller. She is also the wife of Alan Alda which makes for numerous comedic moments. Available on Hulu. See below for Allison’s 2019 interview with James Corden in which she discusses this film and a prank she played on the director.

Allison plays a teacher/librarian who is tasked with showing the candidate (John Travolta) around the school in this political tale based on the Clinton campaign; Allison’s iconic fall up the stairs in this film was noticed by Aaron Sorkin. When later casting ‘The West Wing’, he recalled Allison for her excellent physical comedy. You can see the scene early on in the below clip:

Christian Slater stars as a mysterious drifter whose life takes a fateful turn when he stops at a sleepy small town. Allison plays Lila Leech.

Allison played Dot Halford as the hostess of the ‘key party’ in Ang Lee’s film about a 1970s family falling apart.

In this classic Howard Stern biopic, in which he plays himself, Allison had the good sized role of a radio station executive early in Howard Stern’s career.

Allison played a small part in this Whoopi Goldberg film about Wall Street; at the link below, at around 2 minutes, a brief clip from the film is shown during Allison’s 2017 interview with Whoopi Goldberg on ‘The View’.

Chef Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and businessman Secondo (Stanley Tucci) are immigrant brothers from Italy who open their dream restaurant, Paradise, in New Jersey. Their restaurant floundering, the pressure is on to create the perfect dinner for band leader Louis Prima. Allison plays Primo’s love interest, Ann Travers. This film marks Allison’s first large supporting part in a film, which she attributes to her friendship with Stanley Tucci.

Allison has a small part in this story about two roommates and a new boyfriend, starring Catherine Keener and Anne Heche.

Allison plays a shopper at Cole’s who alerts the manager that their Santa is telling parents where they can get a better deal on gifts. This part has become an iconic early Allison role; read the below article for full analysis!

After being bitten by a wolf in rural Vermont, aging book editor Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) finds himself full of youthful vigor. Allison plays a party guest in a short scene which you can watch below.

Allison plays an NYPD Computer Operator in this tale about cowboys from New Mexico coming to New York City. Watch a clip of Allison here.

In 2015, Allison filmed a joke sketch about her role in this film for Stephen Colbert. See below:

Two drunken New Yorkers (Elizabeth Peña, Paige Turco) hold a support meeting with self-absorbed women who don't notice a dead man (Andrew McCarthy) in the kitchen.

Allison’s first ever appearance on film was in this 1989 Sandra Bullock feature about teens coming of age in the 1950s; she played the part of teacher/librarian Miss Penny.