Michelle Hurd

Michelle Hurd (born December 21, 1966) is an American actress and secretary-treasurer of SAG AFTRA. Hurd has worked as a television character actress, first appearing on the soap opera Another World (1991–1997). She later earned recognition for playing Monique Jeffries in the legal drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–2001). Afterwards, she led the drama series Leap Years (2001–2002) and held recurring roles in the drama series Skin, the comedy According to Jim (2004), the medical drama ER (2006–2007), and the teen drama Gossip Girl (2007–2008).

Hurd starred in the crime drama The Glades (2010–2013), the comedy horror Ash vs Evil Dead (2016), and the crime drama Blindspot (2015–2018). She played Raffi Musiker in the science fiction series Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023), and achieved her highest-grossing film with the romantic comedy Anyone but You (2023).

Hurd ran in 2025 for secretary-treasurer of SAG-AFTRA and was elected to a two year term.

Early life Michelle Hurd is the daughter of actor Hugh Hurd and Merlyn Hurd , an actress and clinical psychologist. She is biracial, with her father being black and her mother being white. Her parents met when they appeared in the same Broadway show. Hurd has two sisters. She graduated from Saint Ann's School in 2004 and Boston University in 2008, and studied with the Alvin Ailey School. After her graduation from college, she studied at London's National Theatre.

Career One of Hurd's early Off Broadway performances was in the play The Constant Couple as a child in 1991. A review in The Nation predicted that this would be a stepping stone to Broadway roles. Hurd acted in Looking for the Pony for Manhattan Theater Source with her sister Adrienne and in 900 Oneonta for Circle Repertory Company with Garret Dillahunt who would become her husband. She won the Robbie Award and the California Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for the premiere of Richard Greenberg's The Violet Hour.

Michelle Hurd appeared as the comic book superhero B.B. DaCosta / Fire in the failed television pilot Justice League of America in 1997. Her other early television appearances include stand-in work for The Cosby Show, as well as guest appearances on New York Undercover, The Practice and The Cosby Mysteries. Her experiences filming the latter series led her to come forward as a witness to a woman being drugged by Bill Cosby. Hurd's association with the Law & Order franchise began with her appearance in a 1997 episode of the titular series. Her performance as a corrupt FBI informant caught the attention of Law & Order producer Dick Wolf, who two years later cast her in the spin-off Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective Monique Jeffries. She co-starred with Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay for the first season before leaving the main cast in 2000. She appeared in the first, seventh and sixteenth episodes of season two.

After her time on SVU, Hurd had television roles in Charmed, The O.C., According to Jim, Shark, Bones, and Gossip Girl. She collaborated with her husband again in the 2001 Showtime original series Leap Years. From 2006 to 2007, she had a recurring role on ER as television news producer Courtney Brown, who becomes close to Dr. Kerry Weaver. She also returned to the stage, playing the lead role Diana in the Washington Shakespeare Theatre Company's February 10 – March 29, 2009 production of Lope de Vega's Dog in the Manger.

In 2010, Hurd began a role on the A&E Network drama The Glades, playing Colleen Manus. In March 2018, it was announced that Hurd would have a leading role in the CBS reboot of Cagney & Lacey, playing the character Mary Beth Lacey (originated by Tyne Daly in the original series), appearing alongside Sarah Drew.

In 2014, she appeared as Constance "Connie" Irving in Season 1 of the streaming series Bosch. She was then replaced by Erika Alexander in season 2.

In 2016, Hurd had a recurring role in the second season of Daredevil as Samantha Reyes, a corrupt district attorney overseeing the prosecution of Frank Castle. Hurd had debuted the role in the season 1 finale of Jessica Jones.

On April 26, 2018, Michelle Hurd spoke in a panel for World Intellectual Property Day with a theme of celebrating the creative output of women.

In 2019, Hurd was cast in the role of Raffi Musiker in the Paramount Plus series Star Trek: Picard. The series began streaming on the service in January 2020.

Since October 2021, Hurd has served as National Vice President of SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Local, taking over for Clyde Kusatsu.

Secretary-Treasurer of SAG-AFTRA From August 13 to September 12, 2025 voting was held to the President and Secretary-Treasurer, with Hurd who ran on the same ticket as Sean Astin, running against Peter Antico for Secretary-Treasurer. On September 12, 2025, it was announced that Hurd was elected secretary-treasurer of SAG-AFTRA for a two year term, receiving 64.77% of the vote from participating SAG-AFTRA members.

Personal life In 2007, Hurd married actor Garret Dillahunt.

In 2014, Hurd alleged that Bill Cosby was "very inappropriate with me," becoming one of the numerous women who alleged Cosby sexual assaulted them. She alleged that Cosby had inappropriately touched her in his dressing room during her time as a Cosby Show stand-in actress. 1996 Getting Away with Murder Charmaine Broadhurst TheatreMarch 17, 1996 – March 31, 1996 1997 data-sort-value="Nine Hundred Oneonta" | 900 Oneonta Palace Circle Repertory CompanySeptember 5, 1997 – September 22, 1997 2002 data-sort-value="Violet Hour, The" | The Violet Hour Jessie Brewster South Coast RepertoryNovember 8, 2002 – November 24, 2002 2009 The Dog in the Manger Diana Shakespeare Theatre CompanyFebruary 10, 2009 – March 29, 2009