1995–2009 Zea began her career in an Off-Broadway theatre, appearing in productions of The
Three Sisters and ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream''. In 2004, Zea was cast in a recurring role in the
FX police drama series
The Shield. She played the role of Lauren Riley, a love interest of
Michael Chiklis' character
Vic Mackey. The following year, Zea won her first series regular role on primetime television, on the
ABC drama series,
Eyes opposite
Tim Daly. The series was canceled after a single season. Her next major role was on the ABC primetime soap opera/comedy-drama
Dirty Sexy Money opposite
Jill Clayburgh,
Donald Sutherland and
Peter Krause. Zea played spoiled socialite Karen Darling. The soap aired from 2007 to 2009, and was canceled after two seasons. In 2009, she had a recurring role during the first season of the
HBO comedy series
Hung. She also had many guest-starring roles, on
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,
Two and a Half Men,
Without a Trace,
Medium,
Franklin & Bash, and
Person of Interest.
2010–present In 2010, Zea began starring as series regular during the first three seasons of the FX drama
Justified, changing to a recurring role from Season 4. She played the role of Winona Hawkins, the ex-wife of
Raylan Givens. Zea was originally a guest star in the pilot for
Justified, but was made a regular right after the pilot with a two-year deal. In film, Zea had supporting role in the 2010 comedy
The Other Guys. As lead actress, she co-starred alongside
Sean Patrick Flanery in the 2011 independent thriller
InSight, and in the
Lifetime movie Burden of Evil (2012). In 2013, Zea starred in the major role of Dr. Claire Matthews, the estranged wife of a serial killer in the Fox drama series,
The Following. She returned to show in second season on a recurring basis. Also in 2013, she had a recurring role as Maxine Seagrave, a drug and gambling kingpin, on the first season of CBS summer series,
Under the Dome. Later in that year, Zea was cast in her first series leading role of the
Amazon comedy pilot
The Rebels. The pilot premiered in February 2014, but not was picked up to series. Later in that year, Zea was cast in two independent films:
Too Late in the female lead role opposite
John Hawkes, and
The Grey Lady as lead character. On August 4, 2014, it was announced that Zea was cast as lead character in the straight-to-series ordered
ABC primetime soap opera,
Members Only. She plays the role of Mickey Holmes-Harris the "most well-educated and put-together member of the family that founded the country club around which the show is centered."
Members Only was
cancelled by ABC before premiere. On December 2, 2014, Zea was cast as lead opposite
Jason Jones in the
TBS vacation comedy
The Detour. On February 26, 2020, Zea began in the lead role of Eve Harris in the
NBC apocalyptic drama series
La Brea, written by David Appelbaum. In 2020, Zea had recurring roles in
9-1-1: Lone Star and
The Unicorn. ==Personal life==