Merritt Wever

Merritt Wever

Wever at Gotham Hall, New York City, March 18, 2010
Born Siobhán Merritt Wever
(1980-08-11) August 11, 1980
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1995–present

Merritt Carmen Wever[1] (born August 11, 1980), known professionally as Merritt Wever, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as the perennially upbeat young nurse Zoey Barkow in Nurse Jackie (2009-2015), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2013. She is also known for her supporting roles as Suzanne in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006-2007), as Elizabeth in New Girl (2013), and as Denise Cloyd in The Walking Dead (2015-2016). Wever has also played supporting roles in such films as Michael Clayton (2007), Tiny Furniture (2010), and Birdman (2014).

Early life

Wever was born in the New York City borough of Manhattan. She was conceived via a sperm donor and raised by her mother, Georgia.[2][3] She graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and Sarah Lawrence College,[4] and she trained in acting in New York.

Career

Merritt Wever in 2010

Wever began her career starring in low budget, independent short and feature films. She has also performed in theatre productions, including a performance in Brooke Berman's play, Smashing, and in Cavedweller with Deidre O'Connell, both off-Broadway.[3] Since she began her career, Wever has performed in numerous feature films, including: Into the Wild, Neal Cassady, Michael Clayton, Series 7: The Contenders, Signs, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, Bringing Rain, Tiny Furniture and All I Wanna Do, among others.

She has guest starred on a number of hit TV shows including The Good Wife, Conviction, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and The Wire, among others. She also starred in Ed Zwick's ill-fated ABC pilot, Quarterlife, with Rachel Blanchard, Austin Nichols, and Shiri Appleby. She also had a notable recurring role on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip as Suzanne.

Wever is best known for her role as Zoey Barkow in the dark comedy series Nurse Jackie, which premiered on Showtime in June 2009.[5] Zoey is described as "an irrepressibly bubbly trauma nurse, who serves as a comic foil to Edie Falco's hard-bitten (and prescription drug-addicted) titular character..." on the official Nurse Jackie website.[6] Wever received widespread critical acclaim for her role on the show.[7]

Wever was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Nurse Jackie in 2012 and 2013, winning the award in 2013 and delivering a memorable speech that consisted only of her stunned reaction: "Thanks so much. Thank you so much. I gotta go. Bye."[8]

In 2016, Wever had a recurring role on AMC's The Walking Dead as Denise Cloyd. Her character's death towards the end of the sixth season of the series was controversial and sparked outrage on social media with many fans, most notably members of the LGBT community.[9][10][11]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1995 Blue River Lottie Television movie
1997 Alaska April Short film
1998 Hairy Bird, TheThe Hairy Bird Maureen 'Momo' Haines AKA, All I Wanna Do
1998 Adventures of Sebastian Cole, TheThe Adventures of Sebastian Cole Susan
1998 Arresting Gena Tammy
2001 Series 7: The Contenders Lindsay
2002 Signs Tracey Abernathy
2003 Season of Youth
2003 Bringing Rain Monica Greenfield
2004 Hole in One, AA Hole in One Betty
2004 Something the Lord Made Mrs. Saxon Television movie
2005 Quarterlife Bailey Television movie
2005 12 and Holding Debbie Poole
2007 Michael Clayton Anna
2007 Into the Wild Lori
2007 Neal Cassady Mountain Girl
2008 Righteous Kill Rape Victim
2009 Mr. Softie Gail
2009 Missing Person, TheThe Missing Person Mabel Page
2009 Messenger, TheThe Messenger Lara
2010 Greenberg Gina
2010 Tiny Furniture Frankie Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Cast
2011 Strange Ones, TheThe Strange Ones Girl Short film
2013 Remember Sunday Lucy Television movie
2014 Birdman Annie Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2015 Meadowland Kelly

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Law & Order Myra Episode: "Mad Dog"
2002 Law & Order Jennifer Taylor Episode: "American Jihad"
2002 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Hannah Price Episode: "Tomorrow"
2003 Wire, TheThe Wire Prissy 2 episodes
2005 Law & Order Sunshine Porter Episode: "Sects"
2005 NCIS Wendy Smith Episode: "Switch"
2006 Conviction Bridget Kellner Episode: "Pilot"
2006–2007 Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Suzanne 12 episodes
2009–2015 Nurse Jackie Zoey Barkow 80 episodes
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominated—Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2012 Good Wife, TheThe Good Wife Aubrey Gardner Episode: "After the Fall"
2013 New Girl Elizabeth 7 episodes
2015–2016 The Walking Dead Dr. Denise Cloyd 9 episodes
2017 Godless Mary Agnes

References

  1. "5 Things to Know About Merritt Wever". Entertainment Tonight. September 23, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  2. Maerz, Melissa (March 29, 2011). "Merritt Wever brings undoctored flair to 'Nurse Jackie'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Merritt Wever: Biography". TV Guide. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  4. "Merritt Wever". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  5. Maerz, Melissa (March 29, 2011). "Merritt Wever brings undoctored flair to 'Nurse Jackie'". Los Angeles Times.
  6. "Nurse Jackie: Official Site". Sho.com. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  7. "'Nurse Jackie' sidekick Merritt Wever stays grounded". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  8. Chan, Robert (September 22, 2013). "Best. Emmys. Speech. EVER: An Underdog Takes Home an Emmy". Yahoo!.
  9. "The Walking Dead Actor Responds to Controversial Death on Last Night's Episode". www.themarysue.com. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  10. "'The Walking Dead' Fans Outraged That Another Minority Character Has Died". The Inquisitr News. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  11. Robinson, Joanna. "The Walking Dead's Latest Gruesome Death Is Part of a Troubling TV Trend". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
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