In a July 2006 interview in industry magazine Soap Opera Digest, Chappell recalled actor Maurice Benard helping her through her first scenes.

After a brief run on Santa Barbara in 1990, (she played a classmate of Eden's who died of an ice overdose), Chappell was cast as Dr. Carly Manning Alamain (Katerina von Leuschner) on Days of Our Lives.

Chappell and future husband Michael Sabatino met on Days of Our Lives, where he played villain Lawrence Alamain.

The story culminated in a controversial plot that had Carly buried alive by Lawrence's aunt Vivian (Louise Sorel).

The character of Maggie was created for Chappell, and she was again paired with a romantic lead on the show, Max Holden (James DePaiva).

In 2009, her character Olivia and Jessica Leccia's character Natalia Rivera were involved in the hugely popular same sex pairing, "Otalia", which saw two presumably heterosexual women move from sworn enemies to a close friendship, to eventually, after a long period of dramatic angst, admitting their feelings towards each other and becoming a couple.

Chappell joined the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful in 2012 as Danielle Spencer, who was featured in the show's first gay storyline.

[6] In 2014, Chappell executive produced the soap opera web series Beacon Hill,[7][8] and co-starred as Claire Preston.

She has also made appearances in the prime time shows Poltergeist: The Legacy, Silk Stalkings, Pensacola: Wings of Gold, and Burke's Law.