Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw was born on July 19, 1976, in Los Angeles, California, to Larry Shaw, a psychologist and former adjunct professor, and Susan Damante, an actress who was the first runner-up at the Miss America pageant.

Raised in a creative environment, her name, Vinessa, was a variation of her grandfather Vincent's name. She is of mixed Russian-Jewish, Italian, Irish, German, English, Mexican, Swedish, and Dutch ancestry. Shaw was raised in her parents' Nichiren Buddhist faith.

Vinessa Shaw began her career as a child actress, making her feature film debut in the slasher film "Home Sweet Home" (1981). She gained recognition for her role in Disney's Halloween comedy-fantasy film "Hocus Pocus" (1993).

While attending Barnard College, she was cast in a supporting role in Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999), which encouraged her to pursue acting into adulthood. Her subsequent roles include Kathryn Bigelow's period drama "The Weight of Water" (2000), the comedy "40 Days and 40 Nights" (2002), the horror remake "The Hills Have Eyes" (2006), and the western "3:10 to Yuma" (2007).

In 2014, Vinessa Shaw was a supporting cast member in the Showtime drama "Ray Donovan" and starred as Dr. Jane Mathis in the 2017 horror thriller "Clinical". She also appeared in Steven Soderbergh's psychological thriller "Side Effects" (2013) and the crime drama "Cold in July" (2014).

In 2021, she starred in the horror film "We Need to Do Something" and the biographical sports drama "12 Mighty Orphans".

Vinessa Shaw is married to graphic designer Kristopher Gifford, and the couple has a son named Jack Hiroki Gifford.