She played the title role in the 2009 TV mini-series Emma. In 2011 Romola starred as Sugar in the TV mini-series The Crimson Petal and the White. From 2011 to 2012 she starred as Bel Rowley in the TV series The Hour. Garai has also starred in the movies Nicholas Nickleby, I Capture the Castle, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Vanity Fair, Inside I’m Dancing, Scoop, As You Like It, Amazing Grace, Angel, Atonement, The Other Man, Glorious 39, Words of the Blitz, One Day, Junkhearts, The Last Days on Mars, and Having You. Garai has won awards from the London Critics Circle Film Awards and the National Board of Review. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television in 2011 and 2012.