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==