Madeline Zima

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 Lewis on the Showtime dramedy Californication. Zima was born in New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, to Marie and Dennis Zima. She has two sisters, Vanessa and Yvonne, both of whom are also actresses.^[1] Her surname means "winter" in Polish and comes from her maternal grandfather who was from Poland.^[2]

Zima began her career at the age of 23 months when she was chosen as a toddler to appear in a television commercial for Downy fabric softener.^[3] She played the role of Grace Sheffield on the television show The Nanny for six years. Zima has become known for her work in films such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and having most recently appeared in the Hilary Duff film A Cinderella Story and soon to be released movies Dimples, Looking for Sunday, Once in a Very Blue Moon and Legacy.

In 2007, Zima played Mia Lewis, a sexually precocious and worldly 16-year old, on the series Californication. The part, which included a sex scene with David Duchovny, stood in sharp contrast to her previous television roles.

Madeline Zima returned for a second season of Californication in 2008 reprising her role as bratty 17-year-old Mia. In promotion of Mia’s book Fucking and Punching, Madeline starred in several Californication webisodes that are featured on youtube.