Braga made her acting debut in the Portuguese-language short film
Trampolim (1998) and then returned to her schooling. Her breakthrough came when she was cast as Angélica in the critically acclaimed crime film
City of God (2002), for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize. Afterward, she attended university while appearing in a pair of well-regarded Brazilian films:
Lower City (2005) and
Only God Knows (2006). She also appeared in the popular Brazilian television program
Carandiru, Outras Historias (2005). Braga made her English-language debut with a starring role alongside
Brendan Fraser,
Mos Def, and
Catalina Sandino Moreno in the crime thriller
Journey to the End of Night (2006), which premiered at the
5th Annual Tribeca Film Festival. She received further recognition when she was cast opposite
Will Smith in the blockbuster action thriller
I Am Legend (2007). She subsequently had roles in the
David Mamet-directed martial arts film
Redbelt (2008), alongside
Chiwetel Ejiofor and
Tim Allen, the post-apocalyptic thriller
Blindness (2008), alongside
Julianne Moore and
Mark Ruffalo, and the crime drama
Crossing Over (2009), alongside
Harrison Ford,
Ray Liotta,
Jim Sturgess, and
Ashley Judd. Braga portrayed Beth in the science fiction film
Repo Men (2010). She starred as Isabelle in
Nimród Antal's science fiction action film
Predators (2010), which was shot and produced by Troublemaker Studios and
Robert Rodriguez. Braga appeared as Frey Santiago in
Neill Blomkamp's science fiction action film
Elysium (2013), co-starring
Matt Damon and
Jodie Foster. In 2014, she starred as Vania in the Brazilian jungle film
The Ardor, as Olivia in the Argentine romance drama
Latitudes, and as Alice Taylor in
Kriv Stenders' action-thriller
Kill Me Three Times. In 2016, Braga starred as Marisol Kingston in the western drama
The Duel, alongside
Liam Hemsworth and
Woody Harrelson. In 2017, she starred as Sophia in the Christian drama
The Shack, alongside
Octavia Spencer and
Sam Worthington, based on the
novel of the same name. From 2016 to 2021, Braga starred in the crime drama series
Queen of the South, produced for
USA Network, an adaptation of
Arturo Perez-Reverte's best-selling novel
La Reina del Sur. The series marked Braga's first lead American television role. She previously had small supporting roles in a non-English television series. Braga starred as
Cecilia Reyes in the superhero horror film
The New Mutants, which was released in 2020. She starred as Maggie Teixeira in the
HBO drama miniseries
We Are Who We Are, which was written and directed by filmmaker
Luca Guadagnino. Braga appeared in the superhero action film
The Suicide Squad, which was released in August 2021. ==Personal life==