Film and television
Black began her acting career in her native Australia. Her first leading role was as Claire Bonacci in A Country Practice. She had a main role in the New Zealand soap opera City Life, playing the Greek lawyer Angela Kostapas.
In 1999, Black was cast to play Aeryn Sun in the science fiction series Farscape, a co-production between the United States and Australia. She gained international recognition for her role in the series, and was nominated for a Saturn Award in the Best Actress category in 2001, 2002 and 2005, winning in the latter. During this time she also appeared in the feature films Pitch Black and Queen of the Damned.
Despite being planned to run for five seasons, Farscape was cancelled after its fourth season in 2003. Black later reprised her role as Aeryn in the miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars in 2004, which concluded the series' plot. In the same year she appeared as Vala Mal Doran in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Prometheus Unbound". Her performance was well received and she was invited to reprise her role in a recurring capacity in the show's ninth season, after series regular Amanda Tapping left the series on maternity leave. Black appeared in eight episodes of the ninth season and returned to the series as a regular cast member for the tenth and final season. She also starred in Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, two direct-to-video films that wrapped up the series' story lines.
In the NBC TV show Life (2007), Black was cast in the supporting role of Jennifer Conover for the initial pilot. Due to her second pregnancy, the part was recast and the role was given to actress Jennifer Siebel when the series was bought by the TV network.
Black has appeared in numerous television series in the United States, including recurring roles in The Originals and The Nevers. In 2016, she played the major role of Dr. Sabine Lommers in the CW miniseries Containment. In 2023, she portrayed the character Klothow in the first season of the Star Wars series Ahsoka. In 2025, she stated that she would not reprise her role in the second season. She is currently starring as Cossutia in the Starz series Spartacus: House of Ashur. Black's film roles include Joan in the thriller film Time Now and Karla Grey in the science fiction film Deus, which she also produced.
Black has also performed in theatre. She played Portia in a tour of The Merchant of Venice. She has had parts in Spotlight on Women, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Loose Ends and Pick Ups for the Belvoir Street Theatre and Little Women and The World Knot for the Bicentennial Opera.
