Although Mariah is more famous for her music and videos, she also tried her hand at acting on the big screen. She began taking professional acting lessons in 1997 and started to audition for film roles. She played a small part in 1999’s “The Bachelor”, starring Chris O’Donnell and Renee Zellweger. She got her first starring role in 2001’s “Glitter”. She portrayed a struggling musician who broke into the music industry after meeting a disc jockey. The movie was a box-office failure and Mariah’s performance was panned by critics. She even earned a Razzie award for her performance. She later said that the film “started out as a concept with substance, but it ended up being geared to 10-year-olds. It lost a lot of grit.”
Mariah, Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters co-starred in the independent film “WiseGirls”. The trio portrayed waitresses working at a mobster-operated restaurant. This time, her performance was received with better reviews and observations from critics and audiences alike. Roger Friedman said of her performance, “Her line delivery is sharp and she manages to get the right laughs.” The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival but went straight to cable in the U.S.
She was also one of several musicians who appeared in the independently produced Damon Dash films “Death of a Dynasty” and “State Property 2”. The singer was also cast as a waitress who travels with her two brothers to find their long-lost father in another indie film, “Tennessee”. It was reported that Mariah will join the cast of comedian Adam Sandler’s new movie, “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” as herself. Her television work is mainly hosting and performing in nationally-televised concerts. But she has appeared in a January 2002 episode of the popular TV series Ally McBeal.
Mariah has also directed or co-directed several of her music videos in the 1990s. Her music video for “The Roof (Back in Time)” was named one of the twenty greatest music videos of all time by Slant magazine. She co-directed the video with Diane Martel.