Golightly decided to become an actress at the age of eight. Her mother took her to Los Angeles, where she found a manager. A year later, Golightly started her career with roles in the 2002 film "Speakeasy", and the television film "The Long Shot". In 2004, she co-starred in the sci-fi miniseries "Five Days to Midnight" as Jesse Neumeyer and was in "Sudbury", an unsold television pilot. In 2006, she was in the Disney Channel sitcom "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" as Vanessa, before appearing in the TNT series "Heartland".