Harden's first film role was in a 1979 student-produced movie at the University of Texas. In 1988, Harden received a master of fine arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
In 1980, she received a bachelor of arts in theatre from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1976, Harden graduated from Surrattsville High School in Clinton, Maryland. She was born on August 14, 1959, in La Jolla, California, the third of five children.
