She has gained recognition for major roles in Continuum and then Ghost Wars, with her acting career being steady. Petersen is bisexual, marrying Jessie Robertson, her wife, in 2015. She's spoken up about a lack of queer roles in TV, and being told she had to keep her relationship with Robertson secret for her career.
Selected filmography:
- The L Word (2004-5) as Comboy/Dax (2 episodes)
- Hot Pink Shorts (2007) as herself (main role)
- Continuum (2012-15) as Jasmine Garza (main role)
- Falling Skies (2013) as Lt. Catherine Fisher (2 episodes)
- Motive (2015-16) as Lisa Benoit (3 episodes)
- Ghost Wars (2017) as Valerie "Val" McGrath-Dufresne (main role)
- The Murders (2019) as Det. Meg Harris (supporting role)
- Riverdale (2019-20) as Brooke Rivers (3 episodes)
- The Babysitters Club 2020 (2020) as Mrs. Johanssen (guest role)
- Van Helsing (2021) as Sgt. Weathers (4 episodes)
- Devil In Ohio (2022) as Detective Anne Beechum (2 episodes)
- School Spirits (2023) as Hayes (2 episodes)
Tropes in her work include:
- Action Girl: She's played soldiers or cops multiple times. Garza in Continuum is also a very capable resistance fighter/terrorist.
- Fake American: She's played American characters multiple times.
- Queer Character, Queer Actor: Openly bisexual, she's played queer women pretty often. Dax/Cowboy on The L Word was a butch lesbian mechanic and drag king. Jasmine Garza on Continuum is a bisexual woman like her. Peterson's characters Val McGrath-Dufresne (Ghost Wars), Meg Harris (The Murders) and Mrs. Johanssen (The Babysitters Club 2020) were all lesbians. Brooke on Riverdale was indicated as being bisexual too.
