Tunie made her Broadway debut alongside
Lena Horne in
Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music in 1981. From 1987 to 1995, she starred in the CBS daytime soap opera
As the World Turns playing attorney Jessica Griffin. She reprised the role from 1999 to 2007, receiving
NAACP Image Awards nominations for
Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2003 and 2004. In the 1990s Tunie guest-starred in primetime dramas including
Swift Justice,
Law & Order,
Chicago Hope,
New York Undercover and
Sex and the City. She also had a recurring role as Lillian Fancy in the ABC police drama
NYPD Blue from 1994 to 1997. Tunie has had supporting roles in a number of movies. She made her film debut in
Sweet Lorraine opposite
Maureen Stapleton and later appeared in
Wall Street (1987). Tunie worked twice with
Al Pacino; she portrayed his press secretary in the film
City Hall (1996) and the possessed wife of a partner in his law firm in the film ''
The Devil's Advocate (1997). Her other credits include Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989), Rising Sun (1993), Eve's Bayou (1997), The Peacemaker (1997), and Snake Eyes (1998). In 2001, she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Awards for her role in film The Caveman's Valentine'', based on
George Dawes Green's eponymous novel, opposite
Samuel L. Jackson. In 2000, Tunie joined the cast of NBC police procedural series
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as medical examiner
Melinda Warner. She made her debut as Warner in the second season episode titled "Noncompliance" and continued to make recurring appearances until Season 7, when she became a regular cast member. She also played this role in
Law & Order: Trial by Jury in episode "Day" in 2005, and in the
Chicago Fire episode "We Called Her Jellybean" in 2015. Tunie was regular on
SVU from Season 7 to 12 and later made recurring appearances to Season 17. She later appeared in episodes in 2018 and 2019. In 2024, She reprised her role in season four of
Law & Order: Organized Crime, reuniting with
Christopher Meloni twelve years later. In 2002, Tunie played Alberta Green in the first season of the
Fox thriller series
24. In 2010, she made her directing debut with romantic comedy film
See You in September. In 2012, she returned to film, playing Margaret Thomason in the
Robert Zemeckis-directed drama
Flight starring
Denzel Washington. From 2014 to 2015, she was regular cast member in the
Sundance TV drama series
The Red Road. Tunie won a
Tony Award in 2007 for the production of the Broadway musical
Spring Awakening; she has also won a
Drama Desk Award. In 2016, she won an
Obie Award for Distinguished Performance in
Familiar, written by
Danai Gurira. From 2016 to 2018, Tunie had a recurring role as Monica Graham in the CBS police drama series
Blue Bloods. In 2018, she was regular cast member in two series, ABC comedy drama
Dietland and
BBC Two/
Netflix co-produced drama
Black Earth Rising. In the latter she played Eunice Clayton, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. Her other television credits include
The Good Wife, ''
Survivor's Remorse, Better Call Saul, and Almost Family''. Tunie also played
Gugu Mbatha-Raw's mother in the 2018 romantic comedy-drama film
Irreplaceable You. In 2022, she appeared as
Cissy Houston in the biographical drama film
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody directed by
Kasi Lemmons. In 2022 she played
Kamala Harris in
The 47th at
The Old Vic theater in London. In 2024, Tunie joined the cast of
Beyond the Gates as family matriarch, Anita Dupree. The soap premiered in early 2025 on CBS. She is the 2025-2026 Artist-In-Residence for MCG Jazz in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. == Personal life ==