Bruckner was born in Hollywood, California to a Hungarian father and a Russian mother who have since divorced; her paternal grandfather was German. Her parents met in Hungary and immigrated to the U.S. in 1984 through a refugee camp in Italy.

Bruckner speaks some Russian and fluent Hungarian, and can read and write Hungarian, having grown up speaking the language. She has been involved in dance, ballet, and tap since the age of five and initially wanted to pursue a career as a dancer. During her childhood, Bruckner worked as a child model at the suggestion of her mother, and also appeared in a beauty pageant. She grew up in Oregon, but moved back to California with her parents to pursue an acting career.

Bruckner has two sisters and a brother.

Bruckner began acting in the late 1990s, and appeared on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, among other minor roles in television and film, including parts in the 2001 film The Glass House and the 2002 thriller Murder by Numbers. Her first major role was in 2003's independent film, Blue Car, in which she played a high school student involved in an illicit relationship with her teacher, played by David Strathairn. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that Bruckner "negotiates this difficult script with complete conviction." Bruckner received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for "Best Female Lead" for the role.

Bruckner has appeared in episodes of the television series 24 and Alias. She starred in the horror films Venom, which was released to a generally negative reviews in September, 2005, and in The Woods, which received a direct-to-video release in 2006. The same year she appeared in the drama Peaceful Warrior, opposite Scott Mechlowicz and received a ShoWest Female Star of Tomorrow Award.

Bruckner's most recent role is in the horror/romance film, Blood and Chocolate, in which she plays a werewolf. The film opened on January 26, 2007. She will next appear in Last Resort, a psychological thriller.