Bai Ling made her screen debut as ‘Lu Xiao Mei’ in the 1984 drama film ‘Hai tan’ directed by Wenji Teng. She went on to star in films such as ‘Tears in Suzhou’ (1985), ‘Yue Yue’ (1986), ‘Shan cun feng yue’ (1987), ‘Hit Without Gun’ (1988), ‘The Shining Arc’ (1989), and ‘Pen Pals’ (1992). In 1993, she portrayed ‘Myca’ in the American superhero film ‘The Crow’ directed by Alex Proyas. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $94 million on a $23 million budget. That same year, she also starred as ‘Norriko’ in the independent drama film ‘Dead Funny’ directed by John Feldman. She next played the role of a Chinese interpreter in the 1995 American epic historical drama film ‘Nixon’ directed by Oliver Stone. Despite the film receiving positive reviews from critics, it failed to perform at the box office. She next starred in films and television series like ‘Red Corner’ (1997), ‘Touched by an Angel’ (1998), ‘Row Your Boat’ (1999), ‘Wild Wild West’ (1999), ‘Angel’ (2000), ‘The Breed’ (2001), ‘Storm Watch’ (2002), ‘Point of Origin’ (2002), ‘Taxi 3’ (2003), ‘Jake 2.0’ (2003), and ‘She Hate Me’ (2004). In 2004, Ling starred as ‘Mei’ in the Fruit Chan-directed Hong Kong horror film, ‘Dumplings.’ She won several awards, including the ‘Hong Kong Film Award,’ for her performance in the film.
She continued to appear in films and television series such as ‘Lords of Dogtown’ (2005), ‘Entourage’ (2005), ‘Man About Town’ (2006), ‘Southland Tales’ (2006), ‘Lost’ (2007), ‘Living & Dying’ (2007), ‘A Beautiful Life’ (2008), ‘Crank: High Voltage’ (2009), ‘The Confidant’ (2010), ‘Magic Man’ (2010), ‘Hawaii Five-0’ (2012), ‘Game of Assassins’ (2013), ‘The Key’ (2014), and ‘Call Me King’ (2015). In 2015, she starred as ‘Cristiane’ in the thriller film ‘Everlasting’ directed by Anthony Stabley. The film earned praise from critics and holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. She next starred in films like ‘Better Criminal’ (2016), ‘Maximum Impact’ (2017), ‘Exorcism at 60,000 Feet’ (2019), and ‘The Legion’ (2020). She last appeared in the 2021 American romantic drama film ‘Venus as a Boy’ directed by Ty Hodges.