She was also chosen by Southern Metropolis Daily as one of the "Four Dan actresses of the post-90s Generation", along with Zheng Shuang, Guan Xiaotong and Yang Zi.

[citation needed] In 2010, Zhou was picked by Zhang Yimou to star in his film Under the Hawthorn Tree, despite having no acting experience prior to taking on the role.

[14] Variety praised her performance saying, "Zhou holds the screen very well, turning an initially daft personality into an angsty but stoical heroine".

[21] In 2015, she starred opposite Ethan Juan in suspense film The Unbearable Lightness of Inspector Fan and youth drama The Ark of Mr. Chow alongside Sun Honglei.

[27] The same year, she won the Best Actress award at the 8th Macau International Movie Festival for her performance in the South Korean-Chinese romance film Never Said Goodbye.

[33] The same year, she starred in the coming-of-age romance drama Shall I Compare You to a Spring Day alongside Zhang Yishan;[34] and featured in science fiction wuxia film The Thousand Faces of Dunjia directed by Tsui Hark.

[37] In 2019, Zhou starred in the youth film Better Days helmed by Soul Mate director Derek Tsang, that tackles school bullying.

[44][45] At the 2010 Hawaii International Film Festival, she apologized in Mandarin that she spoke no English (unlike her co-star Shawn Dou who interpreted for her).

[47] In March 2021, Zhou terminated her contract with Burberry as brand ambassador after the company announced that they would discontinue cotton purchases from the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang amidst allegations of forced labor, human rights violations and persecution of the Uyghur ethnic minority population in China by the US State Department.