In the early 2000s, she worked on the hit television series Law & Order and Law & Order:SVU. In 2005, she briefly appeared in the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers and earned her first starring role for the film The King. In 2007, she had a memorable scene in David Fincher's Zodiac as Zodiac Killer victim Cecelia Shepard.
In 2006, James married banker, entertainment executive and Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael R. Burns in a Roman Catholic ceremony officiated by Rev. william G. Murphy at the Chateau Marmont.
