Robinson made his professional acting debut at the age of eleven with a role in a stage adaptation of
Charles Dickens' novel
A Christmas Carol. Talent scout Matt Casella recommended him to a few agencies, and Robinson was eventually signed with the Los Angeles-based Savage Agency. Because of the
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Robinson's family moved back to
Washington where he continued to perform on stage in and around
Seattle. In 2010, Robinson was cast in the role of Ryder Scanlon, the nephew of
Melissa Joan Hart's character, on the
ABC Family sitcom
Melissa & Joey, playing the character until its cancellation in 2015. In 2011, while on hiatus from
Melissa & Joey, Robinson began filming of the
Disney Channel original movie
Frenemies; Robinson played the role of Jake Logan.
Frenemies premiered in January 2012, on the Disney Channel. In 2012, Robinson was cast in the lead role of Joe Toy in director Jordan Vogt-Roberts'
The Kings of Summer. He also guest-starred in the episode "Blue Bell Boy," during the third season of HBO's
Boardwalk Empire. He also began appearing in a series of television commercials for
Cox Communications entitled "Buffer Time is Bonding Time." In 2015, Robinson portrayed Zach Mitchell in
Jurassic World, in which he was widely seen. He played Ben Parish in the film adaptation of the novel
The 5th Wave, which was released in January 2016. These roles made him unavailable for multiple episodes of the final season of
Melissa & Joey, but he returned for the final three episodes. He played the titular lead in the independent film
Being Charlie, a semi-autobiographical feature about director
Rob Reiner's relationship with his son, which premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival; the film was released theatrically in 2016. In 2017, he starred in
William H. Macy's comedy-drama film
Krystal, and as Olly in
Everything, Everything, a film adaptation of the
novel of the same name. In 2018, Robinson starred as the titular Simon Spier in the gay
coming out teen drama film
Love, Simon. The film was considered ground-breaking because it was the first major studio film to focus on a gay, teenage romance. Robinson's performance as Simon garnered critical acclaim. After reading the script, Robinson revealed that he broke his own rule to no longer play high schoolers because he saw the cultural importance of the film. That year, Robinson was named in
Forbes "30 Under 30" list in the Hollywood & Entertainment category. In 2019, he co-starred in the third film version of
Richard Wright's
Native Son. In 2020, Robinson co-starred in the
FX miniseries
A Teacher, and he narrated his
DM responses to the protagonist of
Love, Victor, a
Love, Simon spinoff TV series on Hulu, and appeared in two episodes of the show. In 2021, he starred in the
Netflix miniseries
Maid, opposite
Margaret Qualley and
Andie MacDowell. ==Filmography==