Advertized as "the face of the 1980s", one-time model and Actors Studio graduate Suzy Amis made her film debut in Fandango (1985). While making the film, she met her future husband Sam Robards, the son of Jason Robards Jr. and Lauren Bacall. She followed Fandango with an off-Broadway appearance in Fresh Horses and next essayed an unpreposessing "goody-two-shoes" film role in The Big Town (1987).

Despite having the least interesting assignment in that film, Suzy managed to steal scenes from villainess Laura Dern. She further proved her acting mettle as the titular heroine of The Ballad of Little Jo (1993), portraying a young woman who passes herself off as a man to survive a harsh existence in the Old West. Unfortunately, although Amis earned a number of plaudits for her performance, the film all but disappeared at the box office.

Suzy turned up in lead and supporting roles in a number of varied films, including Rocket Gibraltar (1988), Rich in Love (1993), The Usual Suspects (1995) - which casts her as the film's only substantial female character - and the movie blockbuster Titanic (1997) in which she played Lizzy Calvert, the granddaughter of Rose DeWitt Bukater (Gloria Stuart).

Suzy has been married to film director James Cameron since 2000, with two children, and has a son with ex-husband Sam Robards.