Leupp's first one-person show was Miss Coco Peru in My Goddamn Cabaret in 1992.
Several more Coco Peru shows followed, as well as a 1994 guest role on New York Undercover and appearances in both Wigstock: The Movie and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar in 1995.
Peru next had a role in the 1997 romantic comedy Nick and Jane.
Her follow-up was the 1999 independent film Trick.
According to Peru, Trick director Jim Fall was a friend and fan, and five years before the film was shot she helped him audition actors by reading the role which ultimately went to Tori Spelling.
Peru's role in the film was added specifically for her: "They wrote me a part, which I rewrote using my own experiences.
I wrote that line 'It burns.'
Most of the part was written by me, which is why I played it so well."

Peru later starred in Richard Day's Girls Will Be Girls (2003) and was one of six performers featured in the Logo original stand-up comedy series Wisecrack (2005).
She has appeared in a number of other supporting and guest-starring roles in television and film, including Will & Grace in 2001 and again in 2018 and 2019, Arrested Development in 2005 and Twins in 2006; the Bravo reality series Boy Meets Boy (2003) and Welcome to the Parker (2007); the police procedural drama series Detroit 1-8-7 in 2011; the 2004 comedy film Straight-Jacket; and a 2007–2008 web series follow-up to Girls Will Be Girls.
Peru performed the voice of "Mama Hippo" in the 2006 Disney animated feature The Wild, and later was the voice of Mother Morally Superior in a 2008 episode of the Logo stop motion animated series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World.
In 2004 Peru appeared in an Orbitz TV commercial that was later nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.


In 2008 Leupp said, 
"I'm not impersonating a woman.
It's just an extension of me.
I'm telling autobiographical stories, and Coco gives me the freedom to be a little more outrageous and say things I wouldn't say in everyday life ... Drag allows me to embrace a lot of the things I hated about myself growing up ... Having been called a girl-boy and all that, drag is a way of saying, I'm going to embrace everything that anybody said about me, and put it out there on stage.
People have said I shouldn't call myself a drag queen, that I do a disservice to myself.
My reaction is I'm proud to be what I am.
When I see video footage of Stonewall, I am proud to be a part of that history.
I'm not saying that I am historical, but just being out there doing the drag, on television, in movies ... I have young nephews ... who know Coco, and who think it's great that I dress up as a girl.
In this way, I am changing the world."
Leupp's first one-person show was Miss Coco Peru in My Goddamn Cabaret in 1992. Several more Coco Peru shows followed, as well as a 1994 guest role on New York Undercover and appearances in both Wigstock: The Movie and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar in 1995. Peru next had a role in the 1997 romantic comedy Nick and Jane. Her follow-up was the 1999 independent film Trick. According to Peru, Trick director Jim Fall was a friend and fan, and five years before the film was shot she helped him audition actors by reading the role which ultimately went to Tori Spelling. Peru's role in the film was added specifically for her: "They wrote me a part, which I rewrote using my own experiences. I wrote that line 'It burns.' Most of the part was written by me, which is why I played it so well."
Peru later starred in Richard Day's Girls Will Be Girls (2003) and was one of six performers featured in the Logo original stand-up comedy series Wisecrack (2005). She has appeared in a number of other supporting and guest-starring roles in television and film, including Will & Grace in 2001 and again in 2018 and 2019, Arrested Development in 2005 and Twins in 2006; the Bravo reality series Boy Meets Boy (2003) and Welcome to the Parker (2007); the police procedural drama series Detroit 1-8-7 in 2011; the 2004 comedy film Straight-Jacket; and a 2007–2008 web series follow-up to Girls Will Be Girls. Peru performed the voice of "Mama Hippo" in the 2006 Disney animated feature The Wild, and later was the voice of Mother Morally Superior in a 2008 episode of the Logo stop motion animated series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World. In 2004 Peru appeared in an Orbitz TV commercial that was later nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.

In 2008 Leupp said, 
"I'm not impersonating a woman. It's just an extension of me. I'm telling autobiographical stories, and Coco gives me the freedom to be a little more outrageous and say things I wouldn't say in everyday life ... Drag allows me to embrace a lot of the things I hated about myself growing up ... Having been called a girl-boy and all that, drag is a way of saying, I'm going to embrace everything that anybody said about me, and put it out there on stage. People have said I shouldn't call myself a drag queen, that I do a disservice to myself. My reaction is I'm proud to be what I am. When I see video footage of Stonewall, I am proud to be a part of that history. I'm not saying that I am historical, but just being out there doing the drag, on television, in movies ... I have young nephews ... who know Coco, and who think it's great that I dress up as a girl. In this way, I am changing the world."
Miss Coco Peru