Coughlan's first film appearance to gain mainstream attention was in Kevin Williamson's directorial debut Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), in which she co-starred alongside Katie Holmes and Helen Mirren. She was cast in the role after reportedly having been rejected for a role on Williamson's series Dawson's Creek.[5] She followed this with a recurring role on the series Wasteland in 1999.[6]
Other films she appeared in included Pumpkin (co-starring with Christina Ricci), a drama about sorority girls; New Suit, a satirical comedy about the inner workings of Hollywood; Super Troopers, playing Officer Ursula Hanson; and Freddy Got Fingered as Betty.
She had a recurring role on the television series Boston Legal as secretary Melissa Hughes in seasons two and three. She appeared in an ouija board segment in an early episode of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction which also features in every episode of the show. In 2007, she starred as Jenny McIntyre in Lifetime Television's original series Side Order of Life. In 2008–2009, she appeared on three episodes of the TV show Bones.
Coughlan began writing while she was pregnant and taking time off from acting. She wrote and produced her first pilot, Lost & Found for ABC in 2011. In 2014, she completed writing a comedy based on Peter and Wendy for NBC.[7] In 2016, it was reported by Variety that Fox was developing a comedy series titled Pushing, written by Coughlan and produced by Greg Berlanti.[8]
In November 2008, Coughlan married childhood friend Stephen Wallack in a ceremony at a private estate in Pasadena, California. They have four children together. As of 2015, Coughlan had relocated to her native Minnesota and was residing in Deephaven,[citation needed] after several years of residing in Studio City, California.[10]
