During the 1980s, Farentino (credited at the time under her birth name, Debrah Mullowney) made a name for herself in television and film. She starred in the daytime soap opera Capitol (1982–1987) as Sloane Denning Clegg, a role that made her a familiar face in households across America.

In 1988, she took on a leading role in the horror movie Cellar Dweller, directed by John Carl Buechler. The film is a classic '80s horror creature feature, centered around a monstrous comic book creation that comes to life and terrorizes an art school. In the movie, Farentino plays Whitney Taylor, an aspiring artist who unwittingly unleashes the film's terrifying creature after discovering the eerie history behind the school’s founder.