Zal was born and raised in Malibu, California, the daughter of Maureen and Hossein Zal. She was on her High School tennis team. Her first acting role was a guest spot on Hart to Hart at age 12. She has had several other guest roles since then, the most recent being in the show Navy NCIS. She is primarily known for being the youngest winner of a prime-time Emmy Award. She won for Something about Amelia when she was fourteen, in which she played a girl molested by her father (played by Ted Danson). She co-produced and starred in the 1998 independent film, Broken Vessels.

Esther Rolle (1979) · Mare Winningham (1980) · Jane Alexander (1981) · Penny Fuller (1982) · Jean Simmons (1983) · Roxana Zal (1984) · Kim Stanley (1985) · Colleen Dewhurst (1986) · Piper Laurie (1987) · Jane Seymour (1988) · Colleen Dewhurst (1989) · Eva Marie Saint (1990) · Ruby Dee (1991) · Amanda Plummer (1992) · Mary Tyler Moore (1993) · Cicely Tyson (1994) · Judy Davis / Shirley Knight (1995) · Greta Scacchi (1996) · Diana Rigg (1997) · Mare Winningham (1998) · Anne Bancroft (1999) · Vanessa Redgrave (2000)

Complete list: (1979–2000) · (2001–present)