is an American actress. She portrayed Grace Sheffield on the CBS sitcom The Nanny (1993–1999), Mia Lewis on the Showtime comedy drama series Californication (2007–2011), and Gretchen Berg on the NBC series Heroes (2009–2010).
Zima was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of Marie and Dennis. Her surname means "winter" in Polish and comes from her maternal grandfather, who was of Polish descent. Zima has two younger sisters, Vanessa and Yvonne, both of whom are also actresses.
Zima began her career when she was two years old with an appearance in a television commercial for Downy fabric softener. In 1993, as a child actress, she landed a main role as Grace Sheffield on the television show The Nanny, which lasted six seasons to 1999.
In 2007, Zima played the main role of Mia Lewis in the first two seasons of the Showtime comedy-drama Californication alongside David Duchovny, appearing as a guest in series 3 & 4 through to 2011. In promotion of the fictional book her character wrote, Fucking & Punching, Zima starred in several Californication webisodes featured on YouTube. Zima has also become known for her work in films such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, A Cinderella Story, Dimples,Looking for Sunday, Once in a Very Blue Moon, Legacy and The Collector.
in 2009, Zima joined the cast of Heroes as Gretchen Berg, Claire Bennet's quirky bisexual roommate and tentative love interest. Zima appeared as a guest star on several television shows, including Law & Order, JAG and Touched by an Angel. She also guest starred in an episode of The Vampire Diaries, and in two episodes of the 2017 Twin Peaks The Return. In 2012, she was cast in a co-starring role in the ABC drama pilot Gilded Lilys, but the series was not picked up by ABC. Zima starred in The Blondes (2019), a scripted podcast series, with her sister Yvonne.
In 2020, she appeared in HBO's Perry Mason. In 2021, Zima appeared in an episode of NCIS: Hawaiʻi. In 2022, she landed a recurring role as Casey Brinke / Space Case in season 4 of Doom Patrol. In 2023, she joined Megan Fox in S.K. Dale's upcoming sci-fi thriller Subservience.
