Madeline Zima still works in Hollywood. She appeared in one episode of HBO's "Hacks" as Jules, a frenemy of Hannah Einbinder's Ava. When Ava runs into her old writing partners in Vegas, it's up to Jules to let Ava know that she's persona non grata in LA because she was self-centered, not because she told an offensive joke.
Zima featured in Season 2 of "Heroes" as Gretchen, the college chum of Claire (Hayden Panettiere). Gretchen comes out as bisexual, and develops romantic tension with Claire. Having any LGBTQIA+ representation on a show as big as "Heroes" was rare at the time. Zima also starred in the first two seasons of "Californication" as the manipulative Mia Lewis.
Zima also had a memorable part in David Lynch's "Twin Peaks: The Return." She is killed off in a gory and brutal fashion early in the series' first episode. The show opens with a man being paid to watch a glass box in a warehouse. Zima's character, Tracey, shows up and sleeps with the man. This momentary lapse in attention somehow lets something out of the box which kills the lovers. Zima extolled the virtues of working with Lynch to Vulture, saying "So many TV shows leave you as a participant completely out of it. David really invites everybody to lean in to use their own brains and come to their own conclusions about things."
