In 2009, Centineo starred as the lead in the family film
The Gold Retrievers. He had small roles in the
Disney Channel sitcoms
Austin & Ally,
Shake It Up, and
Jessie. He co-starred as Jaden Stark in the Disney Channel Original Movie
How to Build a Better Boy (2014). In the same year, he was cast as Ben Eastman in the Disney Channel comedy pilot
Growing Up and Down, which was not picked up to series. In 2015, Centineo was cast in the main role of Jesus Adams Foster in ABC Family/
Freeform's drama series
The Fosters where the character was previously portrayed by
Jake T. Austin in seasons 1–2. He made his first appearance in
season three's episode "Lucky," which aired on August 17, 2015. In 2017, he was nominated for the
Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer TV Star: Male for his performance. In 2017, Centineo starred as Hawk Carter in
go90's teen drama-thriller series
Tagged which ended in 2018. He portrayed surfer/artist Johnny Sanders Jr. in the coming-of-age romantic comedy
SPF-18. Also that year he appeared as
Camila Cabello's love interest in the music video for her single "
Havana." Centineo starred in the teen comedy
Netflix original To All the Boys film series. In the first film he was Peter Kavinsky in the adaptation of
Jenny Han's romance novel ''
To All the Boys I've Loved Before. He received positive reviews and became a teen idol. He also starred as Jamey in Sierra Burgess Is a Loser and as Lance in Swiped. In 2019, he played the lead role of Brooks Rattigan in another Netflix romantic comedy film, The Perfect Date, which was released in April. He had a supporting part in the reboot of Charlie's Angels'', which was released in November 2019. In 2020, he returned as Peter Kavinsky in the sequel
To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. He also returned as Peter Kavinsky in
To All the Boys: Always and Forever on Netflix on February 12, 2021. He was set to play
He-Man in
Masters of the Universe (2026), a film based on the
franchise of the same name to be released by
Sony Pictures, but in April 2021 he dropped out of the film. Centineo appeared in the
DCEU movie
Black Adam playing
Albert Rothstein / Atom Smasher. It was announced that he is negotiating for a role in a film about the 2021
GameStop short squeeze. Centineo starred in and executive produced the Netflix spy-adventure series
The Recruit, released in December 2022. In April 2024, it was announced that Centineo had joined the cast of
Warfare, an
A24 war movie written and directed by
Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza. In May 2025, Centineo was confirmed for the role of
Ken Masters in the
Street Fighter reboot film. In August 2025, Centineo was cast as young
John Rambo in the
upcoming prequel film. In November 2025, Centineo was cast opposite
Sydney Sweeney in a live-action film adaptation of the
Gundam franchise. ==Charity work==