[3] Her first acting job was as a background actor in the film Lucas starring Charlie Sheen, Corey Haim, and Winona Ryder.

[4] After graduating college, Carlson moved to Chicago where she studied improv with Charna Halpern at the Harold ImprovOlympic, and took acting classes at The Actor's Center with Victor D'Altorio and Eileen Vorbach.

Carlson landed the role of Josie Watts and moved to New York in late December 1993 to make her soap opera debut on Another World.

Carlson moved to Los Angeles in 1998, where she guest-starred in a number of prime time shows including NYPD Blue, had a recurring role on the show Get Real which starred Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg, and filmed If These Walls Could Talk Part 2 directed by Martha Coolidge.

Soon Dick Wolf was calling to sign her to Law & Order: Trial by Jury where she co-starred alongside Bebe Neuwirth, Jerry Orbach, Kirk Acevedo, Fred Thompson, and Scott Cohen.

During her hiatus, she played Erin Callan, working alongside James Woods in Too Big to Fail, directed by Curtis Hanson from the book written by Andrew Ross Sorkin.

[7] Just prior to COVID-19 shutdowns, Carlson co-wrote, directed and starred in a short film, The Letter, co-written by Syd Butler.

[8] In 2021, Carlson began shooting as a recurring cast member on FBI: Most Wanted, opposite her friend and co-star from Another World, Julian McMahon.