The Double Jeopardy star has spent the last two years studying for a Masters in Public Administration at Harvard University, and she is now set to return to the spotlight with a role in new TV show Missing, about a retired spy who travels to Europe looking for her son.

The series involves a number of action sequences, and Judd admits after her time at school she relished the chance to perform most of the stunts herself, even diving into Paris' famous river from a bridge.

She tells the Hollywood Reporter, "I lived a very sedentary life (at Harvard]). I basically sat down for two-and-a-half years and didn't get up... Obviously we have to have stunt doubles. But I do most of my own stunts. When I'm on that bridge in Paris and I'm shot and I fall into the Seine, I really did that."

Series creator Greg Poirier adds, "She was actually quite heroic. We put her through all sots of horrible things. And she did it with great aplomb."