[7] East began modeling at age 9, and at 11 she started acting in the HBO television series True Blood.

In 2016, East was cast as Willow Pierce in the first season of the Audience Network drama television series Ice.

Her character, Monica Sherwood, who becomes the girlfriend of the protagonist Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle) during the film's second half, was created for the film as a fictional high school girlfriend for Spielberg, whom the character of Sammy is based on.

She and Thatcher play two LDS Church missionaries who enter the house of Grant's character, who makes them question their faith and terrorizes them.

Both East and Thatcher were raised in the LDS Church, which the film's co-director Scott Beck cited as bringing credibility to their roles.