Madeline Rose Zima (born September 16, 1985) is an American actress. She is mostly known for her six years as Grace Sheffield on the TV series The Nanny or more recently as Mia Cross on the Showtime dramedy Californication and as Gretchen Berg on Heroes. Description above from the Wikipedia article Madeline Zima, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- September 16, 1985 (41)
- New Haven, Connecticut, USA
- Actor, also producer
- 53 on MovieCove · 70 credits in all
What are Madeline Zima's films like?
Across their 28 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 3 · Earnest 21
Light 7 · Serious 9 · Dark 9
A split, not a type: Grounded 15 · Stylized 9 · Heightened 1
Gentle 7 · Charged 11 · Intense 7
Steady 9 · Shifting 13 · Whiplash 3
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 14 · Some laughs 8 · Funny 3
A split, not a type: Slow burn 13 · Even-paced 10 · Relentless 2
Casual 14 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 3
A split, not a type: Easy watch 10 · Affecting 8 · Heavy 7
Resolved 15 · Open-ended 8 · Ambiguous 2
Roles they play
Usually the Hero: 4 of 12 analyzed roles.
Show the 12 rolesHide the roles
- Threshold guardianas Emma Bartel in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)
- Heroas Jo Ann Foley (age 14) in The Secret Path (1999)
- Heroas Zoey Martin in Legacy (2008)
- Allyas Billie in My Own Love Song (2010)
- Allyas Lily in Lake Effects (2012)
- Shadowas Alex Layton in Breaking the Girls (2012)
- Shapeshifteras Rebecca in Crazy Eyes (2012)
- Shapeshifteras Holly in #Stuck (2014)
- Heroas Nora Nichols in I Am Watching You (2016)
- Shadowas Sarah in Chain of Death (2019)
- Allyas Abby in Insight (2021)
- Heroas Ana in Love Is the Monster (2025)
Moods and endings
- Happy6
- Bittersweet12
- Ambiguous10
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Madeline Zima's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 46 of their 53 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (17).
- The Secret Path (1999) · actor · free
- Heroes (2006) · actor · free
- Bombshell (2019) · actor · free
- Diary of a Spy (2022) · actor · free
- The Collector (2009) · actor · free
- A Cinderella Story (2004) · actor · free
- VHYes (2019) · actor · free
- My Own Love Song (2010) · actor · free
- Weepah Way for Now (2015) · actor · free
- Lake Effects (2012) · actor · free
- Insight (2021) · actor · free
- The Family Tree (2011) · actor · free
- +5 more
- Grimm (2011) · actor
- Grey's Anatomy (2005) · actor · free
- The Collector (2009) · actor
- Betas (2013) · actor
- Ghost Whisperer (2005) · actor
- JAG (1995) · actor
- Weepah Way for Now (2015) · actor
- #Stuck (2014) · actor, producer
- Lake Effects (2012) · actor
- Insight (2021) · actor
- Bliss (2021) · actor
- I Am Watching You (2016) · actor
- +1 more
- The Secret Path (1999) · actor · free
- Grimm (2011) · actor · free
- Law & Order (1990) · actor · free
- Second Chances (1998) · actor · free
- The Collector (2009) · actor · free
- Ghost Whisperer (2005) · actor · free
- My Own Love Song (2010) · actor · free
- Lake Effects (2012) · actor · free
- Mr. Nanny (1993) · actor · free
- Cineverse, show their title on Cineverse
- Dove Channel, show their title on Dove Channel
- Howdy, show their title on Howdy
- Lifetime Movie Club, show their title on Lifetime Movie Club
- Magnolia Selects, show their title on Magnolia Selects
- Midnight Pulp, show their title on Midnight Pulp
- Monsters and Nightmares, show their title on Monsters and Nightmares
- Screambox, show their title on Screambox
- Strand Releasing, show their title on Strand Releasing
- Sundance Now, show their title on Sundance Now
- UP Faith & Family, show their title on UP Faith & Family
- Warriors & Gangsters, show their title on Warriors & Gangsters
Subscription and free streaming for Madeline Zima's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
70 credits, 53 with a MovieCove page; 3 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

Reunion (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

Love Is the Monster(2025)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
Watson(2024)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all shows
High Potential(2024)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all shows
Subservience(2024)
Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films
The Morning After (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)

Hypochondriac(2022)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Diary of a Spy(2022)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
NCIS: Hawai'i(2021)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all shows
Hacks(2021)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all shows
Insight(2021)
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all films
Bliss(2021)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
Perry Mason(2020)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all shows
VHYes(2019)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Bombshell(2019)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Chain of Death(2019)
Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all films
La Petite Mort (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

Doom Patrol(2019)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all shows
Orchard Girl (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

Painkillers(2018)
Midcredits score: 3rd percentile of all films
You(2018)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all shows
Good Girls(2018)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all shows
Dream Girl (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

I Am Watching You(2016)
Midcredits score: 9th percentile of all films
Weepah Way for Now(2015)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
From A to B (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)

#Stuck(2014)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
Breaking the Girls(2012)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films
Crazy Kind of Love(2013)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
Gilded Lilys (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)

Betas(2013)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all shows
Crazy Eyes(2012)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
Lake Effects(2012)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
Grimm(2011)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all shows
The Family Tree(2011)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
First Dates (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)

My Own Love Song(2010)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Trance(2010)
Midcredits score: 6th percentile of all films
The Vampire Diaries(2009)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all shows
The Collector(2009)
Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films
Streak (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)

Legacy(2008)
Midcredits score: 5th percentile of all films
In Treatment(2008)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all shows
Californication(2007)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all shows
3 lbs (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)

Heroes(2006)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all shows
Ghost Whisperer(2005)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all shows
Grey's Anatomy(2005)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
A Cinderella Story(2004)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Lucy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)

The Nightmare Room (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)

Gilmore Girls(2000)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all shows
The Sandy Bottom Orchestra (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)

Strong Medicine (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)

Lethal Vows (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)

The Secret Path(1999)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Second Chances(1998)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
'Til There Was You(1997)
Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all films
King of the Hill(1997)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all shows
7th Heaven(1996)
Midcredits score: 9th percentile of all shows
The Nanny: Oy to the World (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)

JAG(1995)
Midcredits score: 43rd percentile of all shows
Touched by an Angel(1994)
Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all shows
The Nanny(1993)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all shows
Mr. Nanny(1993)
Midcredits score: 5th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Law & Order(1990)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all shows
Twin Peaks(1990)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all showsThe Bench (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 98th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 69 titles, 68 of them dated from 1990 to 2026; peak year 1992.

Biggest box office
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

Highest rated
The Secret Path (1999)

Most popular right now
The Nanny (1993)
Film career
Peak 1992 · back in prominent film roles after a quiet stretch. Top draw in 9 MovieCove titles. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 1992Screen debut· The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
- 2014First top-billed film· #Stuck
- 2024Best so far· Subservience
Billing
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30; the columns are the share of top-billed roles in each era, 5-year spans from the year on the label, merged until each holds at least 5 roles.
How do Madeline Zima's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 27th percentile, the median of all 29; across their 25 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 25th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up17
- 50th to 74th9
- 25th to 49th12
- Below 25th15
Shape of the crowd
22 of their 53 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved8
- Universally Panned1
- Loved with Detractors1
- Divisive1
- Cult Classic3
- Crowd Pleaser16
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed22
Reviewers score the acting 56/100 in their films, across 24 reviewed titles; fans 73, detractors 36. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Madeline Zima's work okay for kids?
Across up to 9 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity, profanity and frightening / intense run heavier than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Madeline Zima work with?
People who share at least 2 of Madeline Zima's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Adam Huss shares the most, 2.
Actors
- Adam HussShared titles: Insight (2021), Painkillers (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Adam Huss

- Sean Patrick FlaneryShared titles: Insight (2021), Lake Effects (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Sean Patrick Flanery

- Ray WiseShared titles: Chain of Death (2019), Crazy Eyes (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Ray Wise

- Aly MichalkaShared titles: Weepah Way for Now (2015), Crazy Kind of Love (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Aly Michalka

Mixed roles
- Sarah Siegel-MagnessShared titles: Weepah Way for Now (2015), Crazy Kind of Love (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Sarah Siegel-Magness


