Chris was born under the surname "Settlemire", and later took his mother's maiden name, "Zylka". He attended Howland High School and graduated in 2003. His hobbies have included guitar, painting, association football, basketball, baseball and reading. He attended The University of Toledo in Ohio.

Zylka began his career with a guest appearance on 90210 in 2008. He was soon cast in a recurring role in Everybody Hates Chris before also having guest appearances on the shows Hannah Montana, Cougar Town and Zeke and Luther. Zylka would then land another recurring role as Joey Donner, for 16 episodes, in 10 Things I Hate About You. Zylka began to move into films around this time, appearing in The People I've Slept With before starring in the Made-for-TV horror My Super Psycho Sweet 16. Zylka would later reprise this role in the sequel, My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 2. Zylka also appeared in Kaboom in 2010. Upcoming projects include two animal attack films, Shark Night 3D and Piranha 3D. Zylka portrayed Flash Thompson in the 2012 Spider-Man reboot.