Soap operas, situation comedies, and cop shows are the three great proving grounds for female actresses who are striving to develop an urban-edged, sassy, sexy, and no-nonsense intense onscreen persona. Wavy-haired, cocoa-colored biracial beauty Michelle Hurd is a graduate of all three network training academies, having matriculated as Dana Kramer on Another World, Simone on Malcolm & Eddie, and Detective Monique Jefferies on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She even showed up on The CW as Laurel on Gossip Girl. All these many years of preparation have honed Hurd's instincts and essence, resulting in an exultant casting as Athena Barnes, a striving singer/actress on the innovative Showtime series Leap Years. Catch the Leap Years pilot and be in time for a showing of Michelle's mams and haunches.