Film career

Early in her career, Elise had a recurring role in the final season of China Beach which she often cites as her best professional experience. She played the role of Kyle in the 1990 film Child's Play 2. In 1993, she played Jenn Platt in the horror film Body Snatchers. She had a recurring role as Emily Valentine on Beverly Hills, 90210 and also appeared on the second season of ER for 17 episodes as Harper Tracy.

Following her stint on ER, Elise appeared on the short-lived Fox show L.A. Firefighters. She appeared in the TV movie Vanishing Point with Viggo Mortensen, who had requested that she play the role.^{[citation needed]} They had met on another project, Boiling Point, though her role was largely written out. She had a recurring role as the daughter of Police Chief Bill Gillespie on In the Heat of the Night and also appeared in the Charmed episode Desperate Housewitches. She was featured in the punk rock documentaries American Hardcore and All Ages: The Boston Hardcore Film.

McCarthy made her directorial debut with an award-winning short film she also wrote, produced, and starred in: Bathing and the Single Girl. Since December 2010, Bathing and the Single Girl has been screened at more than 100 festivals and has won 20 awards. Dystel & Goderich Literary Management represents her full-length novel of the same name, Bathing and the Single Girl, released in January 2014.

McCarthy has also been a programmer^{[clarification needed]} of Michigan's Waterfront Film Festival since it was founded in 1999. She has also been involved in multiple capacities (juror, panelist, programmer, and moderator) with Sidewalk FF, Indie Memphis FF, Oxford FF, RxSM FF, Victoria Texas Independent FF, Kansas City Jubilee FF, Lady Filmmakers FF, and Portland Oregon Women's FF.

McCarthy has also worked as a story producer since 2014, producing such reality shows as Hellevator (with the Soska Twins), Best Bars in America, Cold Justice, Tamar & Vince, and Rich in Faith.

On February 11, 2015, McCarthy appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast.

Elise revisited her role as Emily Valentine from Beverly Hills, 90210 in the reboot, BH90210 in 2019 playing a "heightened version" of herself on the series. She has said in interviews that she was approached to be involved in a spin off for her Emily Valentine character, as the original idea for the show Melrose Place, but she turned it down Due to Not being Offered the Amount of Money she Requested to Do the Show and She Also didn’t want to Face the Criticism of People saying that She only Got the Show because She was Dating Jason Priestley in Real Life at that Particular Time. The Beverly Hills 90210 Season 2 Episode “U4EA” planted the Seeds for Melrose Place as Emily Mentions that She got the Flyer for the illegal Underground Nightclub from a Guy on Melrose. ^[1]

Elise reprised her role of Kyle from Child's Play 2 and Cult of Chucky in the 2021 SYFY & USA Network series - Chucky - helmed by Child's Play franchise creator Don Mancini. The series premiered October 12, 2021.

Career outside film industry

Under her birth name (Christine Elise McCarthy), she has worked as a professional photographer, once (February 2008) showing her work at the 2nd Cup Cafe in Boston. In 2008, her photographs were displayed at the Paris restaurant Pink Flamingo.^[2] In April 2009, she participated in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, exhibit called "Burlesque As Art".^{[citation needed]}

Film

Television