Star Trek's Michelle Hurd Has A Black Belt And Wasn't Afraid To Use It In Picard
One of the mandates laid out by actor Patrick Stewart prior to the shooting of "Star Trek: Picard" was that the new Trek series not be a reunion special. He didn't want to return to "Star Trek" after 15 years (his last appearance as Jean-Luc Picard was in "Star Trek: Nemesis" in 2002) just to participate in an insufferably teary series wherein the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" tiresomely get back on the bridge of the Enterprise-D and re-do everything they had done on the celebrated 1987 series. By the time the third season of "Picard" rolled around, the series resoundingly broke that mandate.
In the show's first two seasons, however, the showrunners had to innovate. Picard was no longer a starship captain, and his closest allies were not an official Starfleet crew. Indeed, the main characters on "Picard" were all free agents, with most of them actively resentful of Starfleet. Picard had to solve several dark mysteries with a rogue Starfleet cyberneticist (Alison Pill), a private starship captain (Santiago Cabrera), a Romulan ronin (Evan Evagora), a violent bounty hunter (Jeri Ryan), an ex-spy housekeeper (Orla Brady), and a former officer and recovering drug addict (Michelle Hurd).
The last of that group was Raffaella "Raffi" Musiker, a bitter figure who still clung to shreds of idealism. She was bitter and affable by turns, struggling through her solitude, her former addiction, and the fact that her adult son hated her. She was also a woman of action, ready to fight and do violence at a moment's notice. Although everyone on "Picard" commits murder eventually.
It seems that Hurd has always performed her own fight scenes, as she revealed, in a 2022 interview with TrekMovie, that she has black belt training she loves to display.
What Gates McFadden said
When talking to TrekMovie, Hurd recalled an incident during the press tour for the third season of "Picard" wherein she feared she might have given away too many plot points that hadn't aired yet. She also indicated that she has been doing her own on-screen fighting for years. Hurd had previously appeared in the "Daredevil" TV series, "Ash vs. Evil Dead," the 2001 version of "The Fugitive," and the lesser-seen 1997 "Justice League" TV pilot (she played Fire). She's had plenty of opportunities for stunts. She said:
"Not only on 'Star Trek,' but in general, I enjoy doing my own stunts. I'm a black belt in martial arts, and I love stunt stuff. And you know, at a certain point you won't be able to do it anymore, so I do them as much as I can. So I pretty much do all my stunts."
"Martial arts" is a little vague, and sadly Hurd did not elucidate which martial arts she was trained in. Back in 2013, however, Hurd was interviewed by the Baltimore Sun about her appearance in the crime drama "The Glades," and she was a little more explicit about her training and her interest in staying fit.
Raffi'll kick your butt
It seems that Hurd has always been keen on fitness, and not just for kicking butt. She also noted that she trained in both karate and judo. Karate, is more about sparring and fighting, whereas judo is about grappling, throwing, and pinning; it's an organized sport. As she said:
"Because I have this concept that your body is your temple. You want to go along in life and do all these things and adventures and have a great time, you need to respect your temple. I do everything I can to ensure everything inside and outside is as healthy as possible. I've been an athlete since I was a child. I did track and field for the Police Athletic League, then martial arts — first judo then karate. I've always been athletic. And exercise brings so much calm. I get into a zone. I would probably go crazy if I didn't work out."
Indeed, it seems that part of her martial arts training was getting a washboard abdomen. She explained:
"My abs are always a conversation topic. Got those at 16 when doing martial arts. My sensei made us do millions of situps and tons of core work. I developed those stomach muscles and they just stayed there. You have different ab muscles: upper, middle, lower, and both of your obliques. There are specific exercises for each one. I might go to spin and then do a 10- to 15-minute ab workout afterward."
Hurd's most recent credit is for an episode of "The Walking Dead: Dead City." No doubt she also got to kick some ass on that show as well.