Her career began in 1989. In that year, she moved to Italy, performing as a ragazza cin cin (full-contact topless dancer) on the television show Colpo Grosso. In 1990, she made her pornographic film debut in the United States bondage and discipline video The Challenge (1990), directed by Bruce Seven. In 1991, she moved to Paris and worked as a call girl. She was also photographed for magazines such as Playboy (though the photos, in February 1992, were only published in the Dutch edition) and Penthouse (where she debuted in March 1990 as 'Amy Kristensen') and appeared in a Hustler magazine layout in April 1991. Soon Zara became a major porn star in the United States. She performed in a scene with Rocco Siffredi in John Stagliano's anal sex video, Buttman's Ultimate Workout (1990). She also worked with Directors Andrew Blake. After a brief but successful career in porn, Zara decided to retire. Between 1990 and 1992 she appeared in 73 pornographic films both in Europe and in the United States. She returned to Paris in the early 1990s.

In 1992, she was briefly married to Italian porn actor Roberto Malone and reoriented her career towards non-sex roles in soft core with a French TV series for M6, Joy. In 1998, she made a comeback with a lesbian hardcore movie, La Dresseuse directed by Alain Payet.

In 2006, Zara published her autobiography, titled Je suis Zara Whites mais je me soigne.

She was nominated for the French electoral campaign of 2007, by the name of Esther Spincer.