In 2010, Schnetzer appeared in an episode of Law & Order and co-starred on the series Happy Town. He played Max Vandenburg in the film adaptation of The Book Thief (2013). He played Mark Ashton in the movie Pride, released in 2014, and his performance drew positive reviews. Charlotte O'Sullivan, writing for the London Evening Standard, said: "Schnetzer is a New Yorker with an unpromising CV (he was one of the few good things about The Book Thief) and he's fantastic here."