She appeared in several of her father's (Ron Howard) films as an extra before her feature film début came in director Alan Brown's 2004 drama, Book of Love. She also appeared in numerous productions on the New York stage, but her breakthrough role came in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, which she was cast in without having to audition after Shyamalan saw her in a Broadway show. Following that, Howard was cast by Lars Von Trier to replace Nicole Kidman as Grace in Manderlay (2005). She collaborated again with Shyamalan in the 2006 release Lady in the Water, in which she plays Story, a type of water nymph called a "narf".

In 2006, she starred as Rosalind in Kenneth Branagh's film version of Shakespeare's As You Like It, opposite David Oyelowo as Orlando. The film played theatres in Europe, but went directly to cable in the United States. Ms. Howard was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance.

In May 2007, she appeared as Peter Parker's new love interest Gwen Stacy in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. She dyed her naturally red hair blonde for the role (while the naturally blonde Dunst's hair is dyed red for the role of Mary Jane Watson). Howard beat out Elisha Cuthbert and Sienna Miller for the part. She will play the lead role in her upcoming film, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, co-starring Chris Evans, Ellen Burstyn and David Strathairn. She landed the role after Lindsay Lohan dropped out. She also plays the role of Kate Connor in the 2009 movie Terminator Salvation. She wrote and directed a short film, Orchids, starring Alfred Molina (who incidentally, portrayed Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2), as part of Glamour magazine's "Reel Moments" series funded by Cartier and FilmAid International.

• Terminator: Salvation (2009) (post-production) .... Kate Connor
  ... aka Terminator: Die Erlösung (Germany)
  
• The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008) .... Fisher Willow
• Good Dick (2008) (uncredited) .... Video Store Customer
• Tangled Web: The Love Triangles of Spider-Man 3 (2007) (V) .... Gwen Stacy
• Spider-Man 3 (2007) .... Gwen Stacy
  ... aka Spider-Man 3: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version)
• As You Like It (2006) .... Rosalind
• Lady in the Water (2006) .... Story
• Manderlay (2005) .... Grace Margaret Mulligan
  ... aka Manderlay (France) (Germany)
  ... aka The Film 'Manderlay' as Told in Eight Straight Chapters (USA: long title)
• The Village (2004) .... Ivy Walker
  ... aka Grey (Philippines: English title: review title)
  ... aka M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (USA: promotional title)
• Book of Love (2004) .... Heather
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) (as Bryce Howard) .... Surprised Who
  ... aka The Grinch (Australia) (UK) (USA: promotional title)
  ... aka Der Grinch (Germany)
  ... aka Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (USA: complete title)
  
• Apollo 13 (1995) (unconfirmed)
  ... aka Apollo 13: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version)
  
• Parenthood (1989) (unconfirmed) .... Redheaded Girl in Audience