’90s child actor who starred in The Nanny looks truly unrecognizable today – see her now

LEAVE A COMMENT 27 years after The Nanny wrapped, some of the stars of the sitcom look completely unrecognizable. Madeline Zima, who appeared as Gracie Sheffield on the show, looks so different three decades later.

The now 40-year-old actress recently posed for photos at the 2026 Astra TV Awards on August 15, 2026 in Los Angeles where she presented an award. She showed off her grown up look wearing a burgundy La Ligne dress paired with black d'Orsay pumps.

Madeline made her TV debut when she was just two years old. By the time she was eight, Madeline was a bonafide actress. She landed a leading role on The Nanny as Gracie, the youngest child of the Sheffield family, alongside Fran Drescher's Fran Joy Fine.

On The Nanny, the actress's character was a sweet and intelligent young girl and formed a strong bond with Fran – a relationship which charmed viewers.

During a February 2026 interview with ET Online, Madeline recalled the moment she landed the role, saying: "It was very exciting. There were a lot of auditions for [the role]. I remember being there with Fran and even back then being like, 'Who's this lady with the voice?'"

She continued: "There's so much nostalgia for The Nanny right now and I share in the love of it and how much it means to people. It's an honor to be a part of something that even after all these years, still makes people super happy."

Madeline's close relationship with Fran didn't only exist on-screen. The two actors had a special bond that lasts to this day. In September 2025, Madeline reunited with Fran, alongside her on-screen sister Nicholle Tom, at her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. Watch Fran's speech from the ceremony below.

"It was nice to reconnect with her at the ceremony," Madeline shared with ETOnline. "To honor everything that she means to so many people and what she's meant to me and how she's shaped my life has been so amazing."

Aside from their celebration, Madeline was sure to share her gratitude for Fran's work with the SAG-AFTRA union. "I sent her an email during the strike thanking her ," the actress went on. "One of my earliest memories of any consciousness around a strike was the episode of The Nanny that was called, 'The Strike.'"

In the episode, Fran's character refused to cross a picket line at a hotel. When asked if Madeline would ever appear in a reboot of The Nanny, she emphatically responded: "Of course!"

Since The Nanny wrapped in 1999, Madeline has continued acting. She starred in the first two seasons of Californication, appeared in Heroes, Law & Order, and Twin Peaks: The Return. And in 2023, Madeline starred alongside Megan Fox in the sci-fi thriller Subservience.

And while the actress keeps her life private, she revealed to ETOnline that she's a mom. When asked if she would let her son become an actor, she responded: "He's so beautiful. People ask me all the time. He's this little blonde-haired, blue eyed little gorgeous guy. He is very performative, [so] if he really was set on it, I would encourage him to wait."

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