While studying at Wellesley College, Elisabeth Shue made money by appearing in several television commercials. She became the usual person found in advertisements for products such as Hellman's mayonnaise, DeBeers diamonds, and Burger King.

In 1984, she landed the role as Ralph Macchio's onscreen girlfriend in the film The Karate Kid. She also appeared as a teenage daughter born in a military family in a series called Call to Glory. Her first starring role was for Adventures in Babysitting and then she proceeded to do other movies such as Soapdish, Cocktail, and The Marrying Man. She also replaced Claudia Wells as Jennifer Parker in the films Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III.

In her daring to portray more mature roles, Shue took the chance to be cast in a film called Leaving Las Vegas for which she earned a Best Actress nomination for the Academy Awards. She has been offered roles in various films since then.