O'Connor began her television career at the age of sixteen with commercials for McDonald's and Exxon. A string of other commercials followed, as well as a series of odd jobs such as Porky Pig at Astroworld and an aerobics instructor in L.A. In 1989, O'Connor landed a recurring role in a serial called "Teen Angel", featured on the "New Mickey Mouse Club." This led to roles in another Disney serial called "Match Point", and an episode of "Tales from the Crypt" (directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger), though her Crypt role was later cut. O'Connor then portrayed an imperiled student on the NBC special "The Flood", Cheryl Ladd's daughter in Danielle Steel's "Changes", a woman captured by Shawnee Indians in ABC's "Follow the River", an actress who hires Rockford as her bodyguard in "The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise", Julia Wilkes in Disney's "The Adventures of Huck Finn", and the daughter of a murdered couple in an episode of "NYPD Blue".