Desmond Elliot was influenced by a friend to become an actor. He started playing roles in soap operas like Everyday People, One Too Much and Saints and Sinners. He is one of Nollywood's leading actors, having appeared in over two hundred films including Men Who Cheat, Yahoo Millionaire and Atlanta. In 2006, he was nominated for the African Movie Academy Award for "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" in the movie "Behind Closed Doors". In 2008, Elliot co-produced and co-directed the movie "Reloaded" which received 3 nominations at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009. In 2009 and 2010, He was nominated for the Best Actor category at the Nigeria Entertainment Awards.

Also in 2010, Elliot competed to become the ambassador for the Face of Hope Project, a "volunteer-based non-profit, non-religious, non-political organization established to give hope to the hopeless", in which he will work toward fixing "child illiteracy in Nigeria and Africa at large" should he emerge. In 2014, he was nominated for the African Movie Academy Award for "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" in the movie "Finding Mercy".