She gained prominence through her roles as Romilda Vane in the Harry Potter films (2009–2011) and Ruby Button in the E4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2011–2018).

Shaffer was born in North London to South African parents; her mother is mixed race and her father is Jewish.

In December 2010, the Liverpool Echo reported that eighteen-year-old Shaffer would be joining the cast of Hollyoaks as Ruby, the sister of Duncan Button (Dean Aspen).

[5] However, this was denied and a show spokesperson told Digital Spy "We don't want to spoil the storylines for the viewers, however we can confirm that Anna Shaffer is with Hollyoaks for the foreseeable future.".

Obviously we film up in Liverpool and I miss London, my parents, my brother, so I'm ready for a change but I'll be really sad to leave".