A sultry stage player with a blue-collar vibe, Thorne honed her acting skills on New York's theater scene, working with a number of prestigious off-Broadway companies including the Public Theater, the Atlantic Theatre Company, Naked Angels and Manhattan Theater Club. With only a few screen credits under her belt, Thorne began a two-season stint as a detective on Homicide: Life on the Street and stayed with the gritty drama until its 1999 demise. Frequently cast as civil servants---or their significant others---she had recurring roles on The Wire as a detective's ex and Prison Break as an FBI agent's wife. But her scary signature part came as an alcoholic fireman’s psycho girlfriend (not to mention his cousin-in-law) on Rescue Me.