Potter's film debut came with a minor part in the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy Bulletproof, followed by a leading role in the Richard Grieco vehicle Heaven or Las Vegas, which played briefly in theaters before hightailing it to video. Fortunately, more high-profile work was to come, first as Nicolas Cage's wife in the 1997 action film Con Air and then as a medical student in the Robin Williams comedy Patch Adams (1998). After acting in the shadow of these formidable co-stars, Potter ventured into the limelight with lead roles in two 1998 films, the romantic comedy Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel, and Laurence and the Steve Prefontaine biopic Without Limits, co-starring Billy Crudup. In 1999, Potter had yet another leading role, this time in A Cool, Dry Place, in which she starred with Vince Vaughn and Joey Lauren Adams. Her rising star was given an additional push by her 1999 appearance on the cover of Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood issue, where she was photographed in the company of such fellow actors on the brink of stardom as Sarah Polley, Giovanni Ribisi, and Adrien Brody.