She garnered wide attention for her role as the titular character in the supernatural horror film The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), which established her as a scream queen.

In 2008, she starred in Quarantine, an American remake of the 2007 Spanish horror film Rec, about a deadly zombie virus outbreak in an apartment complex.

In 2011, she starred in the off-Broadway play Gruesome Playground Injuries at Second Stage Theatre[12] and had a guest appearance on the CBS drama The Good Wife.

The game was released in October 2014, and Carpenter provided voicework for two of The Evil Within's DLC chapters, "The Assignment" and "The Consequence", which featured Juli Kidman as the playable protagonist.

[16][17] On July 13, 2021, Showtime confirmed that Carpenter would reprise her role of Debra Morgan in a 10-episode limited series, Dexter: New Blood, with Clyde Phillips returning as showrunner.

[20] They eloped on New Year's Eve 2008 in California and publicly appeared together for the first time as a married couple at the 66th Golden Globe Awards in January 2009.

[20] In December 2010, Hall and Carpenter released a statement announcing that they had filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, after having been separated "for some time".