[1] She began her career as a teenage model before appearing in supporting roles in the films The Cider House Rules (1999) and A Walk to Remember (2002).

She had a lead role in Gaspar Noé's art film Enter the Void (2007), and subsequently played Lucy Danziger in the HBO period drama series Boardwalk Empire from 2010 to 2011.

"[5] She attended the private Saint Ann's School in the New York City borough of Brooklyn on a scholarship,[1] along with fellow student and future fashion designer, Zac Posen, for whom she later modeled.

[6] She made her film debut with a small role in the 1998 romantic comedy The Object of My Affection, and the next year appeared opposite Michael Caine and Charlize Theron in The Cider House Rules.

In 2002, she appeared opposite Shane West and Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember, an American coming-of-age romantic drama film based on the Nicholas Sparks novel.

In 2007, de la Huerta was cast in the role of Linda for the film Enter the Void, a psychedelic melodrama set in neon-lit nightclub environments of Tokyo.

[10] In 2010, de la Huerta appeared in the HBO pilot Boardwalk Empire, set in Atlantic City during the Prohibition era, as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson's mistress, a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer.

"[12] After the second season ended, de la Huerta and fellow co-stars Michael Pitt, Aleksa Palladino, and Dabney Coleman all departed the cast.

[17] However, In 2015, it was reported that de la Huerta was suing the filmmakers, for ruining her career and injuring her when a speeding ambulance driven by a stunt driver struck her while shooting.

[18] In 2014, she completed filming in Las Vegas for the movie Death in the Desert, cast as Margo and co-starring with Michael Madsen and Shayla Beesley.

The film follows a young woman living in a small desert town in Nevada, who becomes romantically involved with a female drifter who leads her into a life of drugs, stripping, and psychedelic spiritual experiences.

[23] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that de la Huerta was perfectly cast for her role as Pepper, though the film has a "mundane storyline.

"[24] John Stewart of The Slanted wrote, "The film is an wonderful departure for Glee's Dianna Agron and her performance with Paz de la Huerta is sure to spark a lot more work in the future for both rising stars.

[32] In November 2018, de la Huerta filed a $60 million lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Weinstein of raping her in 2010 and then embarking on a campaign of harassment that she contends damaged her career.

[33] In the same interview, de la Huerta stated she had been living in hiding from her parents, of whom she accused of exploiting and harassing her:[33] "I have nearly died many times.