Ethan began doing photo ads when he was four years old as a way for his mother and him to spend time together. After a few ads, he was asked to audition for commercials and then movies. He landed his first movie role acting with Vince Vaughn in Fred Claus (2007) when he was seven years old. At the age of nine, Ethan played a mythical spirit named Barto in the movie The Unborn (2009), where he had the opportunity to play opposite Gary Oldman.

In 2009, Ethan was selected for the Showtime series Shameless (2011) to play Carl Gallagher, the second youngest Gallagher sibling and biggest troublemaker. Shameless ran for 11 seasons until 2021 and is currently the longest-running original scripted series in Showtime's history.

Ethan continues to expand his voice as an artist, creating his own fashion brand Khaotic Collective in 2018 and producing music. He resides in Los Angeles, California.