Valeria Golino made her screen debut in the 1983 Italian comedy film ‘A Joke of Destiny’ directed by Lina Wertmüller. She was next seen in films like ‘Blind Date’ (1984), ‘My Dearest Son’ (1985), ‘A Tale of Love’ (1986), ‘Detective School Dropouts’ (1986), ‘The Gold Rimmed Glasses’ (1987), ‘Three Sisters’ (1988), ‘Rain Man’ (1988), ‘Torrents of Spring’ (1989), ‘Traces of an Amorous Life’ (1990), and ‘The King's Whore’ (1990). In 1991, she starred as ‘Ramada Thompson’ in the American comedy film ‘Hot Shots!’ directed by Jim Abrahams. The film was praised by critics and was a financial success, grossing over $181.1 million on a budget of $26 million. That same year, she also appeared in the John Frankenheimer-directed American thriller film, ‘Year of the Gun.’ The film received mixed reviews from critics and currently holds a 29% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. She was next seen in films ‘Puerto Escondido’ (1992), ‘Hot Shots! Part Deux’ (1993), ‘Clean Slate’ (1994), ‘Immortal Beloved’ (1994), ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ (1995), ‘Escape from L.A.’ (1996), ‘Le acrobate’ (1997), ‘Shooting the Moon’ (1998), ‘Spanish Judges’ (1999), ‘Harem Suare’ (1999), and ‘Ivans Xtc’ (2000).
In 2001, she starred in the British-Italian comedy horror-thriller film ‘Hotel’ directed by Mike Figgis. The film received a mixed response from critics and was a commercial failure. Golino continued to star in films such as ‘Respiro’ (2002), ‘Take Me Away’ (2003), ‘36 Quai des Orfèvres’ (2004), ‘Mario's War’ (2005), ‘Our Country’ (2006), ‘Il Sole nero’ (2007), ‘Don't Waste Your Time, Johnny!’ (2007), ‘Cash’ (2008), ‘The Cézanne Affair’ (2009), ‘Dark Love’ (2010), ‘Kryptonite!’ (2011), and ‘Like the Wind’ (2013). She portrayed ‘Roberta Morelli’ in the 2013 Italian film ‘Human Capital’ directed by Paolo Virzì. The film was warmly received by critics and has an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. She next starred in films like ‘An Italian Name’ (2015), ‘Per amor vostro’ (2015), ‘Il colore nascosto delle cose’ (2017), ‘The Summer House’ (2018), ‘Daughter of Mine’ (2018) ‘Volare’ (2019), ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ (2019), and ‘Last Words’ (2020). She was last seen playing the role of ‘Paola Lambruschini’ in the American drama television series ‘The Morning Show’ in 2021.