After her breakout role as Bernice in the 2004 film Spanglish, Steele continued acting, appearing on an episode of Law & Order and in the films: Mr. Gibb, which co-stars Hayden Panettiere, Tim Daly and Dan Hedaya; and Margaret, which co-stars Matt Damon, Matthew Broderick, Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, and Allison Janney.
Steele appeared in the Off-Broadway production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which ran in September 2006 to December 2006 at the Acorn Theater. From 2007 to 2008 she appeared in the Off-Broadway play Speech & Debate. From January to March 2012 she appeared in the Off-Broadway play Russian Transport at the Acorn Theatre, playing the role of Mira. In late 2014 Steele made her Broadway debut in The Country House by Donald Margulies, playing the granddaughter, Susie, opposite Blythe Danner. In 2015 she appeared in the play The Humans, first Off-Broadway and then on Broadway. She has also appeared in other Off-Broadway and regional productions.
In 2009, Steele appeared on Gossip Girl as Kira Abernathy, Jenny Humphrey's rival at Cotillion and Eric van der Woodsen's friend. Steele appeared in three episodes of The Good Wife in 2011 as Marissa Gold, the daughter of Eli Gold (Alan Cumming). She reprised the role from 2014 to 2016 when the show ended, appearing in a total of 22 episodes, and now plays the role on the Good Wife spinoff The Good Fight.
