In 1998, Braga debuted in a Portuguese-language short called Trampolim, then returned to her schooling. Her big break came in 2002, when she was cast as Angélica in the critically acclaimed film, City of God, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize. She took more time off, and attended university while appearing in a pair of well-regarded South American films—2005’s Lower City and 2006’s Only God Knows—and also played a role in the popular Brazilian television program Carandiru, Outras Historias. Braga made her English-language debut in 2006 with a starring role with Brendan Fraser, Mos Def, and Catalina Sandino Moreno in Journey to the End of Night, which premiered at the 5th Annual Tribeca Film Festival and eventually went straight to video in North America. In 2007, Braga was cast in the Will Smith blockbuster I Am Legend, and the drama Crossing Over (which stars Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, and Ashley Judd). She also appeared in the 2008 David Mamet film Redbelt alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor. Braga portrayed Beth in the science-fiction film Repo Men. She starred as Isabelle in Antal Nimrod's Predators, which was shot and produced by Troublemaker Studios and Robert Rodriguez.
