1990s

Dickens made her stage debut in a student production of David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago, at Vanderbilt University.^[5] In 1995, she made her professional screen debut in Alan Taylor's comedy film Palookaville, playing Vincent Gallo's character's girlfriend.^[6] Dickens spent the following year playing supporting roles in the made-for-television films Voice from the Grave and Two Mothers for Zachary. In 1997, Dickens returned to film, playing the female leading role opposite Vincent Gallo again in neo-noir thriller Truth or Consequences, N.M., directed by Kiefer Sutherland. The film received negative reviews from critics.^[7] In 1998, she appeared in Great Expectations, a film adaptation of the Charles Dickens's novel, and had the female leading roles in Zero Effect and Mercury Rising. In 1999, she starred alongside Antonio Banderas in the comedy film, The White River Kid.^[8]

2000s

In 2000, Dickens had co-starring roles in films Committed opposite Heather Graham, Hollow Man with Elisabeth Shue and Kevin Bacon, and The Gift starring Cate Blanchett. The following year, she played the lead in the independent film, Things Behind the Sun. Dickens received critical acclaim for her performance, and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead nomination.^[9][10] Later in 2001, Dickens was a regular cast member in the short-lived CBS police drama series, Big Apple.^[6] In 2003, she co-starred opposite Felicity Huffman and Eric Stoltz in the Showtime miniseries Out of Order.^[11]

During the 2000s, Dickens mostly worked on television, playing Joanie Stubbs, the madam, in the HBO western Deadwood from 2004 to 2006. She was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2007 for this role. She was a regular cast member in the unaired HBO comedy series, 12 Miles of Bad Road starring Lily Tomlin and Mary Kay Place.^[12] She had recurring roles on Lost and Friday Night Lights. In film, Dickens co-starred in House of Sand and Fog (2003) with Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley, Thank You for Smoking (2005), Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006), Red (2008) and The Blind Side (2009).^[13]

2010s

From 2010 to 2013, Dickens was a regular on the HBO ensemble drama series, Treme, as chef Janette Desautel. From 2013 to 2014, she had a recurring role as Colette Jane in the FX crime drama, Sons of Anarchy.^[14] In 2015, she had a recurring role in the Netflix political drama House of Cards. In film, she co-starred in Footloose (2011) and At Any Price (2012). In 2014, she had a major supporting role as Detective Rhonda Boney in the psychological thriller film Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher,^[15][16] and in 2016, co-starred as the lead character's mother in Tim Burton's film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.^[17]

In August 2015, Dickens began playing Madison Clark in The Walking Dead companion series, Fear the Walking Dead, on AMC.^[18][19][20] Dickens left the series in June 2018.^[21] She returned to the series in 2022.

2020s

Dickens appeared in the 2021 film Land.^[22]

In December 2021, it was announced on Talking Dead that Dickens would be returning to Fear the Walking Dead in the seventh season and would be a series regular in its eighth season.^[2] Dickens herself made a surprise guest appearance on the show to make the announcement to fans personally.

Film

Television

Video games