Teresa Ruiz is considered one of the most prominent actresses in Mexican cinema. Her work in film has garnered her awards for Best Actress internationally, which include The Prix d'Interprétation Féminine in France, The India Catalina in Colombia, The Silver Mayahuel, and the Mexican Academy Award: The Ariel.

Teresa appears in the Netflix series Narcos: Mexico (2018) portraying the role of Mexican drug cartel leader Sandra Avila Beltrán AKA The Queen of Cocaine.

She stars in Sony's Father Stu, based on the true story of Boxer-Turned-Priest Stuart Long, starring opposite Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson. Ruiz can next be seen in the A24 x Netflix series, MO, co-written and executive produced by Ramy Youssef, starring opposite series creator Mo Amer. In the can, she has Josh Roush's independent feature Wrong Reasons opposite Fred Armisen, David Koechner, and Kevin Smith, who is also executive producing.

Other works include The Marksman alongside Liam Neeson, Aquí en La Tierra (Here on Earth (2018)) created by Gael García Bernal which premiered at the first edition of The Cannes Series Festival in April 2018; The Last Ship (2014), produced by Michael Bay as well as the hit Netflix series Luis Miguel and The Delivery co-starring next to Mickey Rourke and directed by Louis Leterrier.