Her first prominent roles were in the drama series Mad Men (2012–2015) and in the independent film Dear White People (2014).

In 2021, Parris starred in the horror film Candyman, and began portraying Monica Rambeau in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with the Disney+ series WandaVision.

[16] In 2017, she had a recurring role on the Fox prime time soap opera Empire playing Detective Pamela Rose.

[18] Also that year, she co-starred in If Beale Street Could Talk, a drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins and based on James Baldwin's novel of the same name.

[3] In September 2022, Parris and her husband James announced that they were expecting their first child;[22] their daughter was born in early 2023.