Her best-known roles include Carol Morrison in the film American Graffiti, Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time, Molly Phillips on Disney Channel’s supernatural series So Weird,[2] and Barbara "Barb" Denning in Orange Is the New Black.

She was cast as Carol Morrison, a young girl accidentally picked up by hot rodding teenager John Milner (Paul Le Mat).

Because of California state law, producer Gary Kurtz became Phillips's legal guardian for the duration of the filming.

She sang original songs written by show producers Jon Cooksey and Ann Marie Montade.

[7] In 2016, Phillips began working at the Breathe Life Healing Center in West Hollywood, California as a drug rehab counselor.

[10] On October 31, 2008, she pled guilty to one felony count of cocaine possession and was sentenced to a drug rehabilitation program.

[13] In September 2009, Phillips' memoir High on Arrival was released, after which she appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show for an hour-long interview.

"[15] Phillips told Winfrey of having a "consensual" sexual relationship with her father,[16] describing her participation as "sort of Stockholm syndrome, where you begin to love your captor.

"[15] The alleged abuse ended after Phillips conceived a child and, worried about its parentage, subsequently had an abortion, for which her father paid.

[20] Jessica Woods, daughter of Denny Doherty, said that her father had told her that he knew "the awful truth" and that he was "horrified at what John had done.