Karolina Wydra was born in Opole, Opolskie, Poland, to parents who were teachers of mathematics and art, respectively. In 1992, her family emigrated to Orange County, California, where her parents established a cleaning business. The family later experienced a change in dynamics when her parents separated in 2012, and her mother returned to Poland.
Wydra's modeling career began in 1997 when she won the Elite Lee Jeans Model Look Contest, hosted by Roshumba Williams and Dorian Gregory. She has since appeared in numerous print advertisements for renowned brands such as Armani Exchange, Levi's Red, Calvin Klein, Smashbox Cosmetics, Dooney & Bourke, Charles David, Urban Decay, John Frieda, and Kenneth Cole. Her modeling endeavors have also led to appearances on the covers of German Elle magazine and Oyster magazine.
Wydra's foray into the entertainment industry began with a Nespresso commercial alongside George Clooney in 2006. She then co-starred in the comedy-drama film Be Kind Rewind (2008) and the sports drama film Sugar (2008). In 2011, she appeared in the romantic comedy film Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) as Jordyn. Wydra's television career took off when she played the role of Dominika Petrova, an immigrant who marries Dr. Gregory House, in the seventh and eighth seasons of the Fox medical drama series House (2004).
In 2012, Wydra starred in the fantasy thriller After (2012) alongside Steven Strait. She then had a lead role as Katya Petrovna in the science fiction film Europa Report (2013). Wydra was also cast in the pilot of NBC's remake of the British drama series Bad Girls (2012). In 2013, she joined the cast of HBO's fantasy drama series True Blood (2008) as Violet Mazurski, a vampire who becomes Jason Stackhouse's girlfriend. Wydra's recurring role in the sixth season was upgraded to the main cast for the show's seventh and final season.
Wydra's other notable roles include recurring appearances as Mara Paxton on the fifth season of FX's drama series Justified (2010) and as Dianne Kubek on the first season of ABC's crime drama series Wicked City (2015). She co-starred alongside Aaron Eckhart in the Blumhouse Productions horror film Incarnate (2016) (2015). In 2016, Wydra joined the cast of Amazon Studios drama series Sneaky Pete (2015) in a recurring role.
