Maran was born in Menlo Park, California to a father of Russian and Polish descent and a mother of Dutch, French and German ancestry. She began modeling part-time after an agent spotted her at a local barbecue restaurant at the age of 12. Maran continued a more dedicated career after graduating from high school. Considered to be too short for runway modeling at 5 feet 7 inches, her career consists mostly of editorial modeling and advertising/image modeling. Signed at age 17 with the Elite agency of Los Angeles, Maran appeared on her first cover with Glamour in 1998, and was the featured Guess? Girl in their Summer 1998 and Fall 1998 campaigns. After accumulating a resume of over 25 commercials and advertisements, including a music video for popular boy-band Backstreet Boys, Maran moved cross-country to join with Elite New York. In 1999 she landed a multiyear deal with Maybelline following in the footsteps of Christy Turlington, her idol.

In addition to her thriving modeling career, Maran began an acting career in 2001 with a star turn as title character Mallory in an independent film, The Mallory Effect. She continued to take on roles, in 2004 landing film roles as a French model in Little Black Book and as one of Dracula's brides in Van Helsing.

In 2005, she was recruited by EA Games to appear as a main character in the street-racing computer and video game, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which was released on November 17, 2005. She plays the game's second lead Mia Townsend, who guides the lead character through the game.