Michelle Hurd, 43, gets dirty in The Glades

Michelle Hurd

 

By Madeleine Marr9/3/2010

Michelle Hurd may spend her days slogging through the swamps, but she's not complaining.

"Every day I go to work with Matt Passmore and Carlos Gomez," says the costar of The Glades about her handsome colleagues. "C'mon, that's not a bad way."

Hurd plays Colleen Manus, the head of the state police on the A&E drama, which is based in the sleepy fictional town of Palm Glade, Fl.

For those not familiar with the newish cop show: Hurd's tough-as-nails character took a chance hiring Jim Longworth (Passmore), a dashing homicide detective from Chicago who has a fishy past.

Hurd, 43, is no stranger to playing cops -- having played one in such shows as Law & Order: SVU, CSI: Miami and
Bones.

The genre is no problem for the New York native: ‘‘I'm really obsessed with true crime stories -- The Next 48 Hours, Cold Case -- anything that shows real criminals and real investigative reporters," she says, adding with a laugh, "I think I sort of
gravitate toward people with guns."

The Glades is shot all over the state and shows a less glamorous side than that other locally shot drama on the USA Network.

"This is my take. Burn Notice is just fabulous, but it has more of a Miami Vice feel -- clean and slick," says Hurd, who is married to actor Garret Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men, The Road). "We really have a Floridian feel. We show a
totally different view, not just Miami. We go into the backwoods, the swamps."

About those swamps -- Hurd has seen her share of alligators but remains unafraid.

"I don't want to go in the water with them," she says, "but I don't mind them from a distance!''

And the bugs? "They're nasty -- you've got to keep swatting. And repellent is a must."

The toughest part of the gig is not the geography or the critters, it's the time commitment.

"We have 19-hour workdays with an eight-hour turnaround," Hurd dishes. "That means you go home, sleep, shower and come back.

You're just bleary eyed, but you suck it up. It's a steady job, plus my costars are yummy."