Asia Argento started acting at the age of nine playing a small part in a film by Sergio Citti. She also had a small part in a film written and produced by Dario Argento in, The Church (1989), when she was 14, and Trauma (1993), when she was 18. She also had her first nude scene during this film. She received the David di Donatello (Italy's version of Hollywood's Academy Award) for Best Actress in 1994 for her performance in Perdiamoci di vista!, and again in 1996 for Compagna di viaggio, which also earned her a Grolla d'oro award. In 1998, Argento began appearing in English-language movies, such as B. Monkey and New Rose Hotel, with Christopher Walken.

Argento has proven her ability to work in multiple languages, adding French to the list of languages in which she has performed, with a role in 1994's La Reine Margot. That same year, she made her first foray into directing, calling the shots behind the short films Prospettive and A ritroso. In 1996, she directed a documentary on her father, and in 1998 a second one on Abel Ferrara, which won her the Rome Film Festival Award. She directed and wrote her first movie called Scarlet Diva (2000), which was co-produced by Dario Argento. Four years later directed her second movie, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004), based on a book by JT LeRoy, the pen name of Laura Albert, this time in the United States. According to a Paris Review interview with Laura Albert, Argento and Savannah Knoop, who played the role of JT's public persona, became lovers. In addition to her cinematic accomplishments, Argento has written a number of stories for magazines such as Dynamo and L'Espresso, while her first novel, titled I Love You Kirk, was published in Italy in 1999. She has modeled for and endorses the brand "Miss Sixty". The band Hondo Maclean from South Wales, gained Argento's interest when they wrote a track named after her. She liked the track so much she sent them pictures which they used as the cover of their 2004 EP Chasing Angels.

From 17 to 25 October 2006, Argento contributed a video diary to Nick Knight's website, SHOWstudio. The title of the 54 entries/episodes was "Don't Bother To Knock" and detailed Argento's daily life with three entries (noon, 6 pm and midnight) posted every day. The content of the entries were partially controlled by a discussion forum and together formed a cohesive whole, a sort of "mini-movie" anyone could view for free. In the clips Argento discusses topics such as freaks, her father, Fellini and her sexuality; she also journals a pregnancy, a new love interest and her unraveling psyche. All of these issues come to a head before Argento's final revelations and good-byes. The last visual of the diary is a digitally manipulated portrait of Argento taken by Knight, slowly burning away. She appeared in Placebo's music video, This Picture, and featured on a cover version of Je t'aime... moi non plus with Placebo frontman Brian Molko and dance producers Trash Palace. Argento has also starred in Catherine Breillat's period drama, Une vieille maîtresse (The Last Mistress).

• King Shot (2009) (in production)
• Gigola (2009) (pre-production)
  
• Diamant 13 (2009) .... Calhoune
  ... aka Diamond 13 (International: English title)
• De la guerre (2008) .... Uma
  ... aka On War (International: English title)
• Terza madre, La (2007) .... Sarah Mandy
  ... aka Mother of Tears (USA)
  ... aka Mother of Tears: The Third Mother (International: English title)
• Une vieille maîtresse (2007) .... Vellini
  ... aka The Last Mistress (Canada: English title) (USA: new title)
  ... aka An Old Mistress (Australia: new title)
• Go Go Tales (2007) .... Monroe
• Boarding Gate (2007) .... Sandra
• Transylvania (2006) .... Zingarina
• Marie Antoinette (2006) .... Comtesse du Barry
  ... aka Marie Antoinette (France)
• Live Freaky Die Freaky (2006) (voice) .... Habagail Folger
• Land of the Dead (2005) .... Slack
  ... aka George A. Romero's Land of the Dead (USA: complete title)
  ... aka Land of the Dead - Le territoire des morts (France)
  ... aka Terre des morts, La (Canada: French title)
• Cindy: The Doll Is Mine (2005) .... Cindy Sherman/The model
• Last Days (2005) .... Asia
• Milady (2004) (TV) .... Sally La Chèvre
• The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004) .... Sarah
  ... aka Livre de Jérémie, Le (France)
• The Keeper (2004) .... Gina
• Ginostra (2002) .... The nun
• xXx (2002) .... Yelena
  ... aka Triple X (USA: informal English title)
• Sirène rouge, La (2002) .... Anita
  ... aka The Red Siren (USA: DVD title)
• Morsures de l'aube, Les (2001) .... Violaine Charlier
  ... aka Love Bites (International: English title)
• Assenzio, L' (2001)
• Loredasia (2000)
• "Misérables, Les" (2000) TV mini-series .... Éponine Thénardier
  ... aka Misérables - Gefangene des Schicksals, Les (Germany)
  ... aka Miserabili, I (Italy)
  ... aka Miserables, Los (Spain)
• Scarlet Diva (2000) .... Anna Battista