Cuthbert landed her first role in a feature film in the family drama Dancing on the Moon (1997). She appeared in several other Canadian family-themed movies and an airplane thriller, Airspeed. Cuthbert starred in the Canadian television movie Lucky Girl in 2001 and was awarded a Gemini Award for her performance.

Soon after her move to Los Angeles, Cuthbert was cast in the role of Kim Bauer, daughter of CTU agent Jack Bauer in the television series 24. She appeared in the show's first three seasons, but not in its 4th; she guest-starred in only two episodes in the 5th season.

She began her Hollywood film career with small roles in Old School and Love Actually in 2003. Cuthbert's next film, The Girl Next Door, cast her in her first lead role as an ex-porn star, Danielle, alongside Emile Hirsch. In her next big-screen outing, Cuthbert starred with Paris Hilton and Chad Michael Murray in the 2005 remake of the classic horror film House of Wax.

Cuthbert's next film project was the indie film The Quiet, which she not only co-starred in but also co-produced and helped finance. She played Nina, a temperamental 17-year old cheerleader who suffered from sexual abuse.

Cuthbert appeared in two films in 2007. The first, Captivity, was a thriller centered around a fashion model taunted by a psychopath who has imprisoned her in a cellar. She will also star in the remake of the popular South Korean movie, My Sassy Girl, alongside Jesse Bradford.Cuthbert also has several other films in different stages of production. In He Was a Quiet Man, her character, Vanessa, is a quadriplegic. She is scheduled to appear in the family comedy The Six Wives of Henry LeFay with actor Tim Allen.

(wikipedia.org)