Braga was born in São Paulo, Brazil. Her exposure to the world of acting came at an exceedingly early age. As both her mother, Ana Maria Braga, and aunt, Sônia Braga,[1] are actresses, Alice often accompanied the two to film sets and it did not take long for her to develop an appreciation for all things theatrical. She started out her career by appearing in school plays and even a few commercials, but it wasn’t until she was a teenager that she began seriously pursuing roles in television and movies.

In 1998, Braga made her debut in a Portuguese-language short called Trampolim, but quickly receded back into anonymity to finish her schooling. Braga's big break came in 2002 after she was cast as Angelica in the critically acclaimed smash City of God, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize. She took more time off, and then attended university while making appearances in a pair of well-regarded South American films -- 2005’s Lower City and 2006’s Only God Knows -- and also took on a role on the popular Brazilian television program Carandiru, Outras Historias. Braga made her English-language debut in 2006 with a starring role opposite Brendan Fraser Mos Defand Catalina Sandino Morenoin 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 Sean Penn and Ashley Judd). Additionally, she appeared in the 2008 David Mamet film Redbelt, in which she appears alongside Tim Allenand Chiwetel Ejiofor.