- 2007: Joined the cast of Soderbergh's "Ocean's 13," as Pacino's right-hand woman
- 2006: Cast as a book publisher in Bart Freundlich's "Trust the Man"
- 2005: Plays the mother of a teenager girl who is forced by her parents to have an abortion in "Palindromes" by director Todd Solondz
- 2004: Appeared in the Spike Lee Comedy "She Hate Me"
- 2001: Signed to co-star with Ashley Judd and Marisa Tomei in "Someone Like You"
- 2000: Appeared as Monica Keena's mother in "Crime + Punishment in Suburbia"
- 1999: Portrayed the mother of beauty contestant (Kirsten Dunst) in "Drop Dead Gorgeous"
- 1998: Contributed cameo to Terry Gilliam's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"
- 1997: Won an Emmy for her work in ABC-movie "Before Women Had Wings," produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions
- 1996: Third film with Byrne, Larry Bishop's "Mad Dog Time"
- 1996: Second film with De Niro, "The Fan"
- 1995: Portrayed Calamity Jane to Jeff Bridges' "Wild Bill"; project reteamed her with director Hill
- 1993: Acted opposite Robert De Niro in "This Boy's Life"
- 1993: Appeared in John Turturro's directing debut, "Mac"
- 1992: Reteamed with Byrne for Mike Newell's "Into the West", written by Jim Sheridan
- 1992: Played an opera singer in disappointing "Man Trouble"
- 1991: Cast as a man reincarnated in a woman's body in "Switch"
- 1989: Acted in Walter Hill's "Johnny Handsome"
- 1989: Starred with Al Pacino in "Sea of Love"
- 1987: First role with future husband Gabriel Byrne, "Siesta"
- 1986: Breakthrough leading role in "The Big Easy"
- 1985: Acted off-Broadway in "Eden Court": critic Frank Rich said, "If it were really possible to give the kiss of life to a corpse, the actress Ellen Barkin would be the one to do it"
- 1982: Appeared off-Broadway with Susan Sarandon in the original production of "Extremities"
- 1982: Film acting debut in Barry Levinson's "Diner"
- 1981: TV-movie debut in "We're Fighting Back" (CBS)
- 1980: First stage role in "Irish Coffee" at the Ensemble Studio Theatre
- 1969: Auditioned for the High School of the Performing Arts in NYC; accepted at age 15
- Appeared in the daytime soap, "Search for Tomorrow"



