Zea was born in Harris County, Texas, and attended Monahans High School, graduating in 1993. She then graduated from The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.

Zea had a few small film roles before joining the cast of Passions in 2000 as Gwen Hotchkiss, replacing exiting actress Liza Huber. Zea left the show in 2002, and was replaced by Huber.

She has made several different guest appearances in primetime, guest starring on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2001. In 2004 she made several guest stints on FX's tough cop drama The Shield playing a love Read more...

It was widely speculated that Zea and former Passions co-star, Travis Schuldt, began dating after they had both left the show in 2002 and that they were engaged by early 2007. However, when asked in interviews Zea denied the engagement and has not confirmed a romantic relationship between the two.