He first appeared on the screen in 1996 in J'ai horreur de l'amour (1997) in which he delivered a riveting performance of a man who is HIV positive. Lucas appeared in Leos Carax's Leos Carax (1999) by Leos Carax, and then made two films with director Karin Viard: Nouvelle Ève, La (1999) and Haut les coeurs! (1999), for which he received a Cesar nomination for Best Aspiring Actor.
Laurent Lucas rose to fame with the role of a tormented young father who in Dominik's Moll's terrific thriller With A Friend Like Harry (2000). In 2003, Lucas appeared in three films presented at Cannes International Film Festival: Tiresia (2003), Who Killed Bambi? (2003) and Va, petite! (2002).
Lucas reteamed with Moll in Lemming (2005), a thriller in which he starred opposite Charlotte Rampling and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Upcoming films include On War (2008) and Elle veut le chaos (2008).