By Stacy Lambe
7:01 AM PDT, July 5, 2017
Michael Hyatt is a proud working actress, who has become a familiar face on TV thanks to her many recurring roles over the past 15 years, which now includes a series regular part as Cissy Saint on John Singleton’s new FX series, 'Snowfall.' While the actress has played a number of lawyers, doctors and detectives on shows like 'True Detective' and 'Brothers & Sisters,' she’s never felt pigeonholed. “There are actors who get frustrated because they’re always typecast as a drug dealer or roles that can be perceived as negative images of society. I am blessed that I am not that person,” she says, adding that, in her case, it’s an opportunity. “If it is that over the span of my career you see me playing lawyers, doctors, detectives and teachers, then you know what? I think I’ve done a lot.”In fact, Hyatt’s even managed to take one of those roles that could have easily gone to a white man. “One of my first recurring roles was written for a white man and then I came in the room and did my thing,” she recalls of the audition. “They said, ‘You know what? It doesn’t have to be a white man. It can be her. She’s telling the same story that he could tell.’ That’s f**king amazing.”
Cissy Saint, 'Snowfall'
On John Singleton's new FX series about the start of the crack epidemic, Hyatt plays the tough-loving single mother who is
desperate to keep her son, Franklin, from the clutches of Los
Angeles’ growing drug and crime world.
Dr. Noelle Akopian, 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'
On Rachel Bloom’s CW musical dramedy, Hyatt plays
therapist to Rebecca. She was most recently seen in the show’s second season.
Det. Sheila Muncie, 'Ray Donovan'
On the Showtime drama, Hyatt played a detective
tracking the Donovan family and initially uses Mickey (Jon Voight) to
get inside a sex trafficking ring.
Katherine Davis, 'True Detective'
On the second installment of the HBO anthology series, Hyatt played
a California state attorney who spearheads an investigation into the corruption
in Vinci officials.
Judge Elizabeth Sheffield, 'Franklin & Bash'
Hyatt played one of the many rotating judges on TNT's legal drama.
Dr. Katherine Cortez, 'Brothers & Sisters'
Hyatt appeared on two episodes of the ABC family drama.
Lt. Connie Reubens, 'The Kill Point'
A series regular, Hyatt appeared in all eight
episodes of the Spike TV show as a former soldier-turned-SWAT team commander.
Maisie, 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'
Maisie is the assistant to the head writer of the show, who
leaves during a change in power. Hyatt appeared on two episodes.
Various Roles, 'Law & Order'
On the long-running Dick Wolf series, Hyatt has
played various victims or witnesses. In her final appearance on the show, she
played defense attorney Julia Shinnear.
Brianna Barksdale, 'The Wire'
Over the course of four seasons, Hyatt played a
mother caring for a son who she insists turn himself in and accept a lengthy
prison sentence. She eventually finds herself at the helm of a crumbling
family empire and caught in the crosshairs of obligations and relationships.
Angela Blake, 'The West Wing'
Hyatt came in during season five as a political
consultant hired to be the Director of Legislative Affairs during a crucial
budget negotiation.