After working as a hairdresser[9] on Sloane Street in London for a couple of years, Golding moved back to Malaysia at age 21[3][6] to pursue on-camera roles in Kuala Lumpur.

He was first brought to director Jon M. Chu's attention by accountant Lisa-Kim Ling Kuan, and Golding's charm and personality quickly won him his first major acting role.

[15][16] Crazy Rich Asians was released in the United States and Canada on 15 August 2018 by Warner Bros. Pictures and was met with high critical praise, becoming the number one movie in U.S. and Canadian theatres over its opening weekend.

[18][19] Following the success of Crazy Rich Asians, and, to a lesser extent, A Simple Favor, Golding was cast opposite Emilia Clarke in the romantic comedy Last Christmas, directed by Feig (in their second collaboration).

[22] Golding starred alongside Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, and Michelle Dockery in The Gentlemen, a 2019 crime film directed by Guy Ritchie.

[23] Golding went on to star in Monsoon, a Hong Khaou film, as Kit, a man who travels from London to his birth country of Vietnam to scatter his parents' ashes.