2010s: Worldwide recognition
In addition to television and film roles, Holt has appeared in advertisements for Dreamworld, Sizzler, and Queensland Lifesaving. BuddyTV ranked her number 55 on its TV's 100 Sexiest Women of 2011 list.
Prior to find success in the United States, Holt revealed that she underwent on a process of 142 auditions before booking her first roles in the country, TV movie Mean Girls 2, which is a sequel to the global phenomenon Mean Girls, and a recurring role in the successful TV series Pretty Little Liars. Holt, later revealed on her Youtube channel and on the "Not skinny but not fat" podcast that she has screen tested for the role of Annabeth in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The role eventually went to Alexandra Daddario. She has also stated that she first auditioned for the supernatural drama TV series The Secret Circle for the role of Diana, later won by Shelley Hennig, before being considered by Kevin Williamson for The Vampire Diaries.
In August 2011, Holt was confirmed to be in the TV series The Vampire Diaries as Rebekah Mikaelson. On 13 January 2013, The CW announced that Holt had joined the cast for the backdoor pilot of The Vampire Diaries spin-off The Originals, where she reprised her role as Rebekah Mikaelson. She exited the show as a series regular in the sixteenth episode of the first season, which aired in the U.S. on 11 March 2014. Holt returned to her role in the season one finale on 13 May 2014, and continued to periodically guest star on the series until its finale on 1 August 2018.
In 2014, Holt was linked to CBS' Supergirl, though she chose not to pursue it. She starred in NBC "event series" Aquarius as Charmain Tully. In 2016, she was cast in the romantic comedy film The Divorce Party, playing the role of Susan. In the same year, Holt was cast in the thriller film "Wolf in the Wild", alongside Frank Grillo, although the project was never finalized.
Holt had a starring role, Kayla, in the ABC thriller drama television pilot Doomsday in 2017, though ABC decided to not move forward with the production of the show. Also that year, Holt starred as Kate in the underwater survival horror film 47 Meters Down, opposite Mandy Moore and Matthew Modine, which was released in theaters on 16 June 2017.
Holt was originally set to have a role in the 2018 drama movie Irreplaceable You, however she later dropped out of the project.
