McDowell has had appearances in a number of TV series, including "Shortland Street", "Outrageous Fortune", "The Brokenwood Mysteries", anthology series "Taonga", and "Interrogation". She was nominated for an award for her role in "Hope and Wire" as a Christchurch woman refusing to stay in the city after the 2011 earthquake. McDowell played matriarch Renee O'Kane in TV3's family drama "Head High," and was in two seasons of the Māori TV comedy "Find Me a Māori Bride". She directed a segment of the collaborative 2017 film "Waru".