Sarafyan was born in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union, eight years before Armenia regained its independence. When she was four, she moved with her parents – actor Grigor Sarafyan and her painter mother – to the United States, settling in Los Angeles. She studied ballet and played piano as a child. She attended Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles.

Early work (2000–2006)

Sarafyan made her acting debut on Judging Amy as Aisha Al-Jamal in the episode "Culture Clash" in 2000. She also appeared in the music video for Britney Spears' song "Stronger", and later appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Lori in 2002. She made her film debut in The Last Run as Lauren in 2004 and continued to appear in other television series including The Shield, The Division, Wanted, South of Nowhere, 24, and CSI: NY.

Later work (2007–2015)

After appearing on Cold Case, Sarafyan continued to appear in films including Kabluey and On the Doll in 2007. In 2008, she had a recurring role in the USA Network series In Plain Sight while appearing in A Beautiful Life as Maggie, and The Informers as Mary and a guest appearance on The Mentalist. Sarafyan portrayed Stormy in the web series Sex Ed: The Series followed by small supporting roles in Repo Chick and Love Hurts in 2009. In 2010, Sarafyan joined the cast of The Good Guys, playing offbeat and socially awkward Samantha Evans.

In 2011 she played Willow Talbot in A Good Old Fashioned Orgy and had roles on Criminal Minds and Nikita. Sarafyan went on to appear in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 as Egyptian vampire Tia, the mate of vampire Benjamin, and as Ani in Lost & Found in Armenia in 2012. She later starred in Paranoia featuring Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, Amber Heard, and Harrison Ford in 2013. The film bombed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics.

Career breakthrough and Westworld (2016–present)

After guest starring on CBS' Blue Bloods and FX's American Horror Story, Sarafyan appeared in The Promise, a film about the Armenian genocide in 2016. The same year, Sarafyan was cast as a main cast member on HBO's Westworld as Clementine Pennyfeather.

Following Westworld, Sarafyan received acclaim for her role in the 2018 short film Pin-Up, winning awards at three film festivals for her performance. She starred as the lead role of Francesca in We Are Boats, followed by a supporting role as Joanna in the Netflix thriller Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, and the role of Max in the video game Telling Lies.