Small made her film debut as Chava, the third of Tevye's five daughters, in the 1971 film adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof. Her character leaves the Jewish faith to marry a gentile. While Small had wanted to audition for the original Broadway show, she was told by the play's producers that she "wasn't Jewish enough". She screen-tested for the characters of both Hodel and Chava, and won the latter role. Since she was under 18, she required a guardian during the filming; her older sister Gail assumed this role.