She portrayed the starring role of Teresa Mendoza in the USA Network crime drama-thriller television series Queen of the South (2016–2021).

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.

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.

[8] She starred as Isabelle in Nimród Antal's science fiction action film Predators (2010),[9] which was shot and produced by Troublemaker Studios and Robert Rodriguez.

[10] Braga appeared as Frey Santiago in Neill Blomkamp's science fiction action film Elysium (2013), co-starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster.

[11] 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.

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.