Attractive, darkhaired, bright-eyed, and girlish lead who enjoyed teen-model stardom in the 1970s and a middling career in features since the early 1980s. Having made an initial impact in sexy roles in the teen flicks Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the Blue Lagoon knock-off Paradise (both 1982), she later enjoyed success as Zach Galligan's fresh-scrubbed girlfriend in Gremlins (1984) and its sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). Cates, whose other movies include Bright Lights, Big City, Shag (both 1988), Heart of Dixie (1989), Drop Dead Fred (1991), Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993), and My Life's in Turnaround (1994), is an earnest performer in drama but is much more appealing in lighthearted roles. Her father is producer-director Joseph Cates and her uncle, director Gilbert Cates. She is married to actor Kevin Kline, in whose film I Love You to Death (1990) she made an amusing unbilled cameo as one of his one-night stands. She had one of her best roles as the mysterious Princess Caraboo (1994).