[1] She graduated from Texas City High School in 1993 [2] and attended Southwest Texas State University, obtaining a theater Bachelor of Arts in 1997.
[3] After graduating from college, Patterson became an improv performer for both Theatresports in Austin, Texas and with The Groundlings.
[3] Highlights of her screen career to date, have been regular roles in several TV series, including eleven episodes of The Underground in 2006, ten episodes playing Veronica in Partners alongside Kelsey Grammer in 2014, starred as Jen Abbott for 15 episodes of Vice Principals (2016–2017),[4] had a long-standing voice only role in We Bare Bears between 2015 and 2018, and played the recurring role of Elizabeth for 6 episodes of The Last O.G.
In 2019, Patterson began playing Judy Gemstone alongside John Goodman in the HBO TV series The Righteous Gemstones about a famous but dysfunctional family of televangelists.
[3] The same year, Patterson appeared in the mystery film Knives Out, in a cast which included Daniel Craig, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer and Jamie Lee Curtis.