At 12 years old, director Rafael Corkidi cast Elpidia as Malinche in the surrealist Mexican feature film Pafnucio Santo.

That was soon followed by a co-starring role in the Beyond the Limit opposite Richard Gere, Michael Caine, and Bob Hoskins, with the latter two receiving BAFTA Nominations for their performances.

With awards and critical recognition all by the age of 25, Carrillo then accepted what would be one of the most recognizable and commercially successful roles of her career as the only actress appearing in the 1987 action film Predator opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Shane Black, and Jesse Ventura.

Following the commercial success of Predator, and performances in television guest starring roles in Miami Vice and 21 Jump Street, Carrillo increasingly focused her career once again on US film and television, as well as returning to Mexican independent cinema with roles including Guldbagge Award winning La Hija del Puma, Una Cita con el Destino, Ariel Award winning City of the Blind, and the Guillermo del Toro produced Un Embrujo, a winner of 9 Ariel Awards.

Carrillo appeared in Gregory Nava's Mexican-American film My Family playing Isabel Magaña, the El Salvadorean refugee wife of Jimmy Smits, who won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for the role.

The ensemble film also featured her former My Family co-star Jimmy Smits and Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson.

She did an episode of ER S6 E16: Under Control Carrillo returned to star in the Mexican family comedy Familia Gang and the independent features Relentless and Foreign Land.

[citation needed] She made her return to television with a major recurring arc as Linda Brenner in Nashville and a guest starring role as President Daphne Tejeda on Madam Secretary.