Since her Kuwaiti diploma was not accredited in Egypt and not accepted by any school, Zaki had some free time and auditioned on a whim for Bil 'Arabi Al-Fasih (In Formal Arabic), a play directed by Mohamed Sobhi.

[3]She got the role and put her schooling on hold until the end of the play's year-and-half run, at which point Zaki returned to the United States to enroll in a two-year program at the Heritage Academy in Louisiana.

[3] In 1989, when she was 13, Zaki landed her first acting role in Mohamed Sobhi's play Bel Araby El Faseeh (In Formal Arabic) after answering a casting call.

[3] Her first film role was in the 1998 crime drama El Katl ElLaziz (Sweet Killing), starring Mervat Amin, one of Egypt's most popular actresses at the time.

In 2007 she starred in Taymour and Shafika, once again opposite Al-Sakka, playing childhood sweethearts whose love is put to test when her character is appointed a minister and he is charged as her bodyguard.

[11] In 2016, starred in the Ramadan TV series Afrah El-Qoba (The Ooba Weddings) adapted from a novel by Naguib Mahfouz which garnered Zaki the Best Actress Murex D'Or.

[12] In April 2021, Zaki appeared in the mega hit Ramadan drama series Newton's Cradle playing a pregnant woman whose plans go awry when she travels to the United States to have her child born on American soil.

Zaki has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2009 and in that capacity has appealed for donations surrounding regional events impacting children such as the 2020 Port of Beirut explosion or in, 2023, the conflict in Gaza.