[3] In 2004, Lanter was a contestant on Bravo's reality show Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model.

[5] Between June and July 2005, Lanter appeared in three episodes of the Fox supernatural drama series Point Pleasant, playing the role of Nick.

[9] In 2008, he took on the lead role as Zach Conroy in The Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream, as a member of a figure skating pair.

[8] In March 2010, he signed on for another parody project with Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, 20th Century Fox's Vampires Suck.

[17] Although it received unfavorable reviews from critics, it was a moderate success at box office in North America; however, it was overshadowed by that year's Super Bowl.

[19] He also voices Harry Osborn, Flash Thompson and Venom in the TV series Ultimate Spider-Man,[19] which premiered on April 1, 2012.

[21] In March 2013, Lanter was cast as a co-star in The CW's science fiction drama series Star-Crossed (originally titled Oxygen).

[22][23] Star-Crossed is about a romance between a human girl and an alien boy (Lanter) when he and six others of his kind are integrated into a suburban high school 10 years after they landed on Earth and were consigned to an internment camp.

[25] In February 2019, it was announced that Lanter was cast as George Hutchence in the Netflix superhero series Jupiter's Legacy.

[29] On December 13, 2019, he appeared in The Mandalorian episode "Chapter 6: The Prisoner", portraying Lant Davan, a New Republic soldier.