She played the role of Shannon McBain on the American daytime soap opera One Life to Live and Rachel Gatina on the WB/CW television drama series One Tree Hill.

Elta Danneel Graul was born in Lafayette, Louisiana,[2] and raised in nearby Eunice, a small town in St. Landry Parish.

In 2003, Harris landed her first role on the ABC soap opera television series One Life to Live as Shannon McBain, a student attending the fictional Llanview University.

[citation needed] In 2005, Harris began a major recurring role in the third season of The WB/CW television drama series One Tree Hill.

Harris reprised the role of Vanessa Fanning in the third and final installment of the trilogy, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, which was released in November 2011.

[8] The film, also starring Leighton Meester and Cam Gigandet, centers on a college freshman whose roommate has a violent obsession with her.

The film was shot on location at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and suffered numerous push-backs for unknown reasons.

In June 2012, Harris, now going by the professional name Danneel Ackles, was brought in for a recurring role in the second season of the TV Land series Retired at 35.

[16] She appeared in a Lifetime television film, The Christmas Contract (2018), alongside former One Tree Hill co-stars Hilarie Burton, Robert Buckley, Tyler Hilton and Antwon Tanner.