She began her career as a singer after moving to Minneapolis, where she met Prince, who produced her self-titled debut studio album, released in 1993. Electra began glamour modeling in 1996 with appearances in Playboy magazine, before relocating to Los Angeles, where she had her breakthrough portraying Lani McKenzie in the action drama series Baywatch (1997–1998).

In 1997, Electra hosted the MTV dating show Singled Out and made her film debut in the comedy horror American Vampire. In 2004, she co-starred in the reality series 'Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen and Dave with her then-husband Dave Navarro, and voiced Six in the animated series Tripping the Rift. Electra later achieved recognition for her work in parody films, including Scary Movie (2000), Scary Movie 4 (2006), Date Movie (2006), Epic Movie (2007), Meet the Spartans (2008), and Disaster Movie (2008). Her other film credits include Get Over It (2001), Starsky & Hutch (2004), Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005), Dirty Love (2005), Hot Tamale (2006), and I Want Candy (2007).

Electra has also occasionally worked as a dancer, most notably with The Pussycat Dolls, as a featured guest of the group on VH1 Divas 2004.[5] She has been considered a "sex symbol" and "pop culture icon".