Early work Zuniga made her film debut in Stephen Carpenter's slasher film
The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982), playing a supporting role as a college student. Two years later, she made her lead debut in
The Initiation, another college-themed slasher co-starring
Vera Miles and
Clu Gulager. "It was a great part," Zuniga recalled. "I got to play twins: a good sister and an evil sister. I got shot in the back on-screen. It was pretty heavy for a first role." The film was critically praised; critic
Roger Ebert said of the film: "The movie industry seems better at teenage movies like ''
Porky's'', with its sleazy shower scenes, than with screenplays that involve any sort of thought about the love lives of its characters. That's why
The Sure Thing is a small miracle." Shortly after, Zuniga was cast in the television drama film
Stone Pillow (1985), playing a social worker in
New York City who forms a bond with an elderly homeless woman, played by
Lucille Ball. She also appeared in the comedy
Modern Girls (1986), opposite
Cynthia Gibb and
Virginia Madsen. In 1987, Zuniga was cast as Princess Vespa in
Mel Brooks's comedy
Spaceballs, opposite
Rick Moranis,
Bill Pullman, and
John Candy. Though the film received mixed critical reception, it later garnered a
cult following. The next year, Zuniga appeared in a lead role in the blockbuster horror film
The Fly II (1988), followed by the drama-comedy
Staying Together (1989), and as a med student opposite
Matthew Modine in the drama
Gross Anatomy (1989).
Melrose Place, film, and television in
Germany, 2018 In 1992, she was cast as
Jo Reynolds in the Fox soap opera
Melrose Place, and appeared on the show as a regular character until 1996. The role garnered Zuniga major exposure to television audiences, though her television career had begun in the early eighties with a minor role on
Family Ties (1984) as a girlfriend of
Alex P. Keaton. In 1994, Zuniga appeared in the release of a video for
Bob Seger's previously released 1976 hit "
Night Moves". In the video version of the song, she and a pre-
Friends Matt LeBlanc are shown in a 1960s drive-in theater, where Zuniga as a dark, edgy young woman becomes a visual fascination for LeBlanc as a clean-cut young man. In 2000, Zuniga appeared as a bartender in the music video for
Evan and Jaron's single "
Crazy for This Girl". Later, Zuniga would work as a
voice actor on the
animated television series Stories from My Childhood (1998), and also had a lead role in the miniseries ''
Pandora's Clock'' (1996), an action thriller filmed in
Seattle, Washington. From 2005 to 2006, she was cast as
Lynn Kerr on the
ABC family series
Beautiful People, and also had a recurring role in the series
American Dreams. She also appeared in a recurring role as Victoria Davis on
The CW series
One Tree Hill between 2008 and 2012, appearing in over forty episodes. During this time, she appears in several made-for-television movies including
Secret Lives (2005),
The Obsession (2006),
Christmas Do-Over (2006),
Mail Order Bride (2008), and
On Strike for Christmas (2010). In 2007, Zuniga co-produced and co-directed (with Steven Latham) the documentary "The Future We Will Create: Inside the World of TED" — a look at the annual
Technology, Entertainment and Design conference held in Monterey, California. She also starred in the scripted web series
Novel Adventures, which premiered November 3, 2008 from
CBS Interactive. In February and March 2008, Zuniga appeared onstage in a production of
The Scene by
Theresa Rebeck, at the San Francisco Playhouse. Zuniga reprised her role as Princess Vespa from the 1987 film
Spaceballs, by
voice-over in the television
spin-off Spaceballs: The Animated Series. She also reprised her role from
Melrose Place in an
updated version, but it was short-lived, as the series was cancelled after just one season in 2009–10. She starred in 2010 in the hit Hallmark Channel film
A Family Thanksgiving. In 2013, Zuniga appeared as a postal worker in the
Hallmark Channel series
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, as well as the television film based on the series and in
Gone Missing with Lauren Bowles. Zuniga appeared in a guest starring role in the
VH1 scripted series
Hindsight as Libby. In 2016, she was cast in a new TV movie for Hallmark Channel,
When Duty Calls, with
Judd Nelson and
Daniella Monet. More recently, Zuniga starred in
Heartbeats,
Witness Unprotected and
A Christmas Arrangement with Miles Fisher. In 2018, Zuniga directed her first feature film,
The Protégé, with Keenan Tracey and Jeannette Sousa. It was released in 2019 under the title
Deadly Assistant. In 2019, she co-starred in the television film
Gates Of Paradise, opposite Lizzie Boys and
Jason Priestley, and
Christmas In Paris with Karl E. Ländler. In 2020, she was a guest star in
NCIS as Stacy Gordon, Navy commander. In 2021, she was a guest star in
Fantasy Island as Margot, with her old
Melrose Place co-stars
Josie Bissett and
Laura Leighton. In 2022, Zuniga appeared on
Dynasty as Sonya Jackson, alongside another old
Melrose Place co-star
Grant Show. Since 2024, Zuniga, along with Leighton and Courtney Thorne-Smith, have hosted an IHeartRadio podcast,
Still The Place. In April 2024, it was announced that a
Melrose Place reboot was in development, with Zuniga joining Leighton and Heather Locklear in the cast. In June 2025, it was announced that Zuniga would reprise her role as Princess Vespa for the upcoming
Spaceballs sequel,
Spaceballs: The New One, which will be directed by
Josh Greenbaum and is scheduled for release in 2027. ==Activism==