Background
Lynch was born in Golden Valley, Minnesota, the daughter of Barbara, a modern dancer, and Robert Lynch, a restaurateur.
Lynch was born in Golden Valley, Minnesota, the daughter of Barbara, a modern dancer, and Robert Lynch, a restaurateur.
She attended The Guthrie Theater. In the 1980s, she studied with acting instructor Sanford Meisner.
She worked as a flight attendant after leaving college. She was working as a model for the Elite modeling agency before acting. After several small roles, Lynch was cast in her breakthrough role in the feature film Cocktail (1988).
She turned down the role of Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct (1992).
Lynch later had leading roles in a number of independent movies and co-starred in several Hollywood feature films, including Desperate Hours (1990), Curly Sue (1991), Three of Hearts (1993), Imaginary Crimes (1994), Virtuosity (1995), Heaven"s Prisoners (1996), Mr. Magoo (1997), and Homegrown (1998).
In the 2000s, Lynch has had supporting roles in the films Charlie"s Angels (2000), Joe Somebody (2001), and The Jacket (2005). On television, Lynch had the recurring role of Ivan Aycock from 2004 to 2009 in the Showtime drama series The L Word.
She later joined the cast of The CW teen soap 90210 (2010–2011) as Laurel Cooper.