His first role was on the TV show Fame (1982). He then appeared in his first film Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). This was followed by an appearance in Universal's Gotcha! (1985), and then in features such as Wildcats (1986), Slaves of New York (1989), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), and Traffic (2000). In 2002 Garcia was in Randall Wallace's We Were Soldiers (2002) in which he portrays Mel Gibson's heroic buddy, the commander of a company fighting against the Viet Cong; and in Andrew Davis' Collateral Damage (2002), in which he plays a villainous Communist guerrilla who battles good guy Arnold Schwarzenegger. In addition to appearances on TV shows, including JAG (1995), Arli$$ (1996), The Facts of Life, Miami Vice, Babylon 5, She Spies, Crossing Jordan and Murder One (1995), Garcia also played the male lead in an ABC / Touchstone pilot, Then Came Jones, and has a recurring role on Without a Trace (2007). Garcia also played a major supporting role in Along Came Polly (2004). Garcia played revolutionary Che Guevara in Andy García's Cuban story, The Lost City. He took part in the 2010 documentary film Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy discussing his roles in various films in the Elm Street franchise. Garcia portrayed Francisco d'Anconia in Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 (2011), based on Ayn Rand's novel of the same name.

Jsu Garcia created a production company, Scott J-R Productions, together with author John-Roger. They made their first full-length feature Spiritual Warriors in 2005, written and executive produced by Garcia and John-Roger, starring Garcia, and based on John-Roger's book "Spiritual Warrior: The Art of Spiritual Living." The films metaphysical and New Age themes led to its being screened at venues such as the 2007 Los Angeles Conscious Life Expo. Music was by Zeljko Marasovich. Spiritual Warriors has had over 130 screenings in 47 cities across 20 countries, and was released on DVD in 2009.