She began her career as a child actress, appearing on television in small guest roles on Touched by an Angel and Ally McBeal, before earning critical acclaim for her performance in The Education of Little Tree (1997).

David Noh of Film Journal International deemed her performance as a young friend of the titular Cherokee character "delightful.

[10] Also in 2000, Boorem had a central role in the Revolutionary War historical drama The Patriot (2000), playing the daughter of a soldier (portrayed by Mel Gibson).

[5] She subsequently appeared opposite Morgan Freeman and Anton Yelchin in the thriller Along Came a Spider (2001), playing the kidnapped daughter of a United States Senator.

[3] A supporting role in Penny Marshall's period drama Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) followed,[3] and a part as the younger sister of Kate Bosworth in the surf film Blue Crush (2002).

[12] In the independent drama Smile (2005), Boorem portrayed a teenager from Malibu who befriends a young Chinese woman with a facial deformity, played by Yi Ding.

"[17] In 2007, she had a guest-starring role on the medical drama series House, appearing in the episode "Insensitive" as a teenager suffering from CIPA, a condition that prevents her from sensing pain.

In 2010, she had a supporting part as the ghost of a psychiatric patient in John Carpenter's psychological horror film The Ward, opposite Amber Heard and Danielle Panabaker.

[22] She made her feature film directorial debut with Hollywood.Con (2021), an action-adventure comedy set in Guatemala and starring Tom Arnold, Paige Howard, Devin Ratray, Brian Krause and Cody Kasch, as well as Boorem herself.