Newman first earned a living performing with her jazz quartet, and landed parts in several short films. She also made an appearance on
The Drew Carey Show. Soon after, she landed the role of
Kristina Cassadine on the soap opera
General Hospital. While there, she continued with her music career, putting together her cover band, School Boy Crush. Newman and School Boy Crush played regularly at The Buffalo Club in
Santa Monica, California; Moomba in
West Hollywood; Nick's Martini Lounge; Café Cordiale; and at the Lux in
Beverly Hills. The band covered a wide variety of music from
funk and
soul to
R&B and
blues. Most recently, they played the
ESPN Awards party at The Highlands, the adjoining venue to the
Kodak Theatre. Newman also landed a part in
Steven Spielberg's
Catch Me If You Can, with a scene opposite
Leonardo DiCaprio. In January 2003, Newman starred with
David Schwimmer,
Jonathan Silverman and
Tom Everett Scott in the play
Turnaround,
Roger Kumble's dark
Hollywood satire. In October 2006, Newman began an eight-episode run in a recurring role in the critically acclaimed
CW show
Veronica Mars. She also became a fan favorite with her appearance on
Stargate Atlantis as
Lt. Laura Cadman. Along with fellow
Stargate actor
Michael Shanks, she appeared in the Christmas 2006 television film
Under the Mistletoe. Other high-profile guest starring roles include
E-Ring,
Heroes,
Supernatural,
Related,
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,
Medium,
NCIS,
Grimm, and
Castle. In 2007, Newman starred in
Neil LaBute's play
Fat Pig at the
Geffen Playhouse, and in 2008, starred in LaBute's play
Some Girl(s), also at the Geffen. The following year, she appeared alongside
Rebecca Romijn,
Lindsay Price and
Paul Gross in the 2009 television adaptation of
Eastwick (based on the
John Updike novel
The Witches of Eastwick), playing Kat Gardener, a nurse and mother of five who discovers her magical powers. In 2010, she held major recurring roles on
Eureka as Dr. Tess Fontana, and on
Drop Dead Diva as Vanessa Hemmings. In January 2011, Newman played Cynthia Karslake in
David Auburn's revival of
The New York Idea by
Langdon Elwyn Mitchell at the
Lucille Lortel Theatre in
New York City. In 2013, she starred opposite
James Van Der Beek,
Kathy Baker and
Chris Mulkey in the American stage premiere of the Australian play
The Gift at the Geffen Playhouse. Newman starred with
Radha Mitchell in ABC's 2013 midseason drama series
Red Widow. That same year, she starred in the independent psychological thriller film
Altered Minds. In May 2014, it was reported that she would guest star in an episode of
TNT's comedy-drama
Franklin & Bash. Later, she was cast as series regular in another ABC series,
Mind Games, opposite
Christian Slater and
Steve Zahn. In August 2014, it was announced that Newman would recur on
Amazon Studios' procedural drama
Bosch. In August 2015, she joined the main cast of ABC's crime drama series
Wicked City. In December 2015, Newman joined the fourth-season cast of
Bates Motel as the major recurring character Rebecca Hamilton, a past love interest of Sheriff Romero (
Nestor Carbonell). She will star in
Lech Majewski's fantasy film
Valley of the Gods, opposite
Josh Hartnett and
Charlotte Rampling. In August 2016, she was cast in the recurring role of Wildred Darnell on the fifth season of TNT's procedural drama series
Major Crimes. The following year, Newman began starring in the series regular role of Sarah Lieberman on
Netflix's
Marvel drama
The Punisher, a spin-off series featuring the character from
Daredevil. She then recurred as Irene McAllistair in the third season of the
Syfy drama series
The Magicians. Newman had a recurring role as Linda Langer in the second season of
Bravo's dark comedy series
Imposters. In 2018, she produced her first feature film, the biographical racial drama
Skin, directed by her husband Guy Nattiv. For her work, she received the
Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. In 2022, Newman played Lucille Abshire in the
HBO series ''
The Time Traveler's Wife''. ==Personal life==