Her early feature roles gave no indication of her acting abilities: Edwards made her feature debut in Tobe Hooper's ludicrous "Spontaneous Combustion" (1990) and was among the teens in the unnecessary sequel "Private Lessons 2" (lensed 1992; released 1994). For her role in "In the Company of Men", the actress worked with hearing-impaired students and learned American Sign Language. She so successfully adapted her body language and voice that many were stunned to learned that Edwards was not deaf. After completing a role in Mike Nichols' political satire "Primary Colors" (1998), Edwards joined the cast of the CBS medical drama "Chicago Hope" in the fall of 1997, playing Dr. Lisa Catera. After two seasons, she was released from the show.