Merritt Wever

Early life

Merritt Carmen Wever was born on August 11, 1980 in Manhattan, New York City. She was conceived using a sperm donor and raised by her mother, Georgia. Her mother is from Texas, and is a feminist and political activist.

Wever graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and Sarah Lawrence College.

Career

Wever began her career starring in low budget, independent short and feature films. She has performed in theater productions, including Brooke Berman's play Smashing and Cavedweller with Deirdre O'Connell, both off-Broadway. Wever appeared in numerous films, including Into the Wild, Michael Clayton, Series 7: The Contenders, Signs, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, Bringing Rain, Tiny Furniture, and All I Wanna Do.

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

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

Wever was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2012 and 2013 for her role in Nurse Jackie, 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."

In 2016, Wever had a recurring role on AMC's The Walking Dead as Denise Cloyd. Her character's death toward 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.

Wever played a lead role in the miniseries Godless (2017) as Mary Agnes McNue, a tough leader of a female-dominated town. She said in interviews that she had been intimidated by the role: "I spent so much of this shoot thinking I would come off as a fool, that nobody would buy me as this and it wouldn't be believable." Many critics nonetheless noted her character as a highlight of the show. Entertainment Weekly titled its review of Godless "Merritt Wever rides tall in Netflix's Godless" and wrote that "no one is more electric than the always extraordinary Merritt Wever". In 2018, she won an Emmy for the role.

In 2019, Wever starred in another Netflix miniseries, Unbelievable, which was released on September 13, 2019. The series received critical acclaim, with Wever receiving her first Golden Globe Awards nomination for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film.

In 2020, Wever starred opposite Domhnall Gleeson in the HBO comedy thriller series Run. It was cancelled after one season.

In 2025, the Creative Arts Emmys awarded her an Emmy Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Gretchen George in season 2 of Severance.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theater

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Blank, Matthew. (June 21, 2011). "PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: 'Nurse Jackie' and The Illusion Star Merritt Wever".
2. "Merritt Wever". Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
3. "Merritt Wever: Movies, TV, and Bio". Amazon.
4. Maerz, Melissa. (March 29, 2011). "Merritt Wever brings undoctored flair to 'Nurse Jackie'". [[Los Angeles Times]].
5. "Merritt Wever: Biography". CBS Interactive Inc..
6. Hart, Hugh. (June 21, 2018). "Merritt Wever Transitions From Loopy Nurse to Frontier Toughie in Godless | The Credits".
7. Blake, Meredith. (April 9, 2020). "Merritt Wever knows showbiz can be 'poison' for women. But complaining now feels wrong".
8. (2014). "Merritt Wever". [[The New York Times]].
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10. Maerz, Melissa. (March 29, 2011). "Merritt Wever brings undoctored flair to 'Nurse Jackie'". Los Angeles Times.
11. "''Nurse Jackie'': Official Site". Sho.com.
12. Oldenburg, Ann. (April 13, 2014). "'Nurse Jackie' sidekick Merritt Wever stays grounded".
13. Chan, Robert. (September 22, 2013). "Best. Emmys. Speech. EVER: An Underdog Takes Home an Emmy". Yahoo!.
14. Cox, Carolyn. (March 21, 2016). "The Walking Dead Actor Responds to Controversial Death on Last Night's Episode".
15. Tsoumbakos, Rachel. (March 22, 2016). "'The Walking Dead' Fans Outraged That Another Minority Character Has Died".
16. Robinson, Joanna. (March 21, 2016). "The Walking Dead's Latest Gruesome Death Is Part of a Troubling TV Trend".
17. McHenry, Jackson. (November 30, 2017). "How Merritt Wever Found Vulnerability in Godless's Toughest Character".
18. Shaw, Jessica. (November 16, 2017). "Merritt Wever rides tall in Netflix's Godless".
19. (September 16, 2019). "'Unbelievable': Toni Collette, Merritt Wever & Kaitlyn Dever To Star In Netflix Limited Series".
20. "Unbelieveable".
21. Hipes, Patrick. (December 9, 2019). "Golden Globes Nominations: 'Marriage Story', Netflix, 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' Lead Way In Film—Full List Of Nominations".
22. "Unbelievable".
23. (March 6, 2019). "'Run': HBO Gives Series Order To Comedic Thriller Starring Domhnall Gleeson & Merritt Wever From 'Fleabag' Duo & eOne".
24. Andreeva, Nellie. (July 10, 2020). "'Run' Canceled By HBO After One Season".
25. Tangcay, Jazz. (2025-09-07). "Merritt Wever Wins Emmy for Guest Actress in a Drama for ‘Severance’".
26. (October 31, 2022). "Double Dutch International To Launch World Sales For Merritt Wever Drama 'Midday Black Midnight Blue' At AFM". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
27. Szalai, Georg. (5 March 2024). "'Suits' Star Patrick J. Adams, Connor Swindells, Merritt Wever Cast in Netflix, BBC Series 'Lockerbie'".
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29. "The Female of the Species, Starring Annette Bening, Opens Feb. 10 in U.S. Premiere".
30. "Tony Kushner's The Illusion Vanishes Off-Broadway July 17".
31. "Trip Cullman-Staged Touch(ed) Begins Williamstown Run Aug. 3".
32. "Soho Rep's Uncle Vanya, With Reed Birney, Maria Dizzia and Michael Shannon, Sells Out Summer Run".
33. "Futuristic Online Thriller The Nether, Starring Emmy Winner Merritt Wever, Arrives Off-Broadway".
34. (May 28, 2014). "Critics' Choice TV Awards 2014: And the nominees are...".
35. (December 8, 2019). "'The Irishman', 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' Lead Critics' Choice Nominations; Netflix Dominates With 61 Noms In Movies And TV".
36. (October 19, 2010). "2010 Gotham Awards nominees".
37. (January 6, 2020). "Golden Globes 2020: Full list of winners and nominees". BBC News.
38. (February 8, 2020). "Independent Spirit Awards Redresses Female Balance With Wins For Lulu Wang, Olivia Wilde & Julia Reichert – Complete Winners List". Deadline.
39. "Merritt Wever". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
40. Sherman, Rachel. (2023-07-12). "Emmy Nominees 2023: The Complete List". The New York Times.
41. (December 12, 2012). "'Lincoln,' 'Silver Linings' top SAG film noms". Variety.
42. (July 9, 2020). "'Watchmen,' 'Unbelievable' Lead List of 2020 TCA Awards Nominees". Variety.
43. (December 8, 2014). "Washington DC Area Film Critics Association names 'Boyhood' its Best Film of 2014".