Merritt Wever

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Merritt Wever
File:Merritt Wever 2010 cropped.jpg
Wever in 2010
Born
Merritt Carmen Wever

(1980-08-11) August 11, 1980 (age 45)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materSarah Lawrence College
OccupationActress
Years active1995–present

Merritt Carmen Wever (born August 11, 1980) is an American actress. Wever has had supporting roles in several television series, including the Showtime television series Nurse Jackie (2009–2015), Godless (2017), and Unbelievable (2019). She has played recurring roles on series such as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007), New Girl (2013), The Walking Dead (2015–2016), and Severance (2025). She also played supporting roles in several films, including Michael Clayton (2007), Birdman (2014), Welcome to Marwen (2018) and Marriage Story (2019).

Wever has won three Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Nurse Jackie, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for Godless, and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Severance. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for Unbelievable.

Early life

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Merritt Carmen Wever[1] was born on August 11, 1980[2][3] in Manhattan, New York City. She was conceived using a sperm donor and raised by her mother, Georgia.[4][5] Her mother is from Texas, and is a feminist and political activist.[6][7]

Wever graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and Sarah Lawrence College.[8]

Career

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File:Merritt Wever Portrait cropped.jpg
Wever in 2007

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.[5] 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.[9]

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.[9]

Wever is perhaps best known for her role as Zoey Barkow in the television series Nurse Jackie, which premiered on Showtime in June 2009.[10] 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".[11] Wever received widespread critical acclaim for her role on the show.[12]

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."[13]

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.[14][15][16]

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."[17] 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".[18] 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.[19] The series received critical acclaim, with Wever receiving her first Golden Globe Awards nomination for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film.[20][21][22]

In 2020, Wever starred opposite Domhnall Gleeson in the HBO comedy thriller series Run.[23] It was cancelled after one season.[24]

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.[25]

Acting credits

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 Alaska April Short film
1998 All I Wanna Do Maureen 'Momo' Haines
Arresting Gena Tammy
1999 The Adventures of Sebastian Cole Susan
2001 Series 7: The Contenders Lindsay Berns
2002 Signs Tracey Abernathy
2003 Season of Youth Anna
Bringing Rain Monica Greenfield
2004 A Hole in One Betty
2005 12 and Holding Debbie Poole
2007 Michael Clayton Anna Kaiserson
Into the Wild Lori
Neal Cassady Mountain Girl
2008 Righteous Kill Rape Victim
2009 Mr. Softie Gail
The Missing Person Mabel Page
The Messenger Lara
2010 Greenberg Gina
Tiny Furniture Frankie
2011 The Strange Ones Hotel Girl Short film
2014 Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Annie
2015 Meadowland Kelly
2016 The Last Face Marlee
2018 Irreplaceable You Mindy
Charlie Says Karlene Faith
Welcome to Marwen Roberta
2019 Marriage Story Cassie
2022 Midday Black Midnight Blue Beth [26]
2023 Memory Olivia
2025 Christy Joyce Salters
TBA Primetime † TBA Filming
Key
† Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1995 Blue River Lottie Howland Television film
1997 Law & Order Myra Episode: "Mad Dog"
2002 Jennifer Taylor Episode: "American Jihad"
Law & Order: Criminal Intent Hannah Price Episode: "Tomorrow"
2003 The Wire Prissy 2 episodes: "Storm Warnings" and "Bad Dreams"
2004 Something the Lord Made Mrs. Francis Saxon Television film
2005 Quarterlife Bailey Television film
Law & Order Sunshine Porter Episode: "Sects"
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 Main role
2012 The Good Wife Aubrey Gardner Episode: "After the Fall"
2013 New Girl Elizabeth 7 episodes
Remember Sunday Lucy Gillenwater Television film
2015–2016 The Walking Dead Dr. Denise Cloyd 9 episodes
2017 Godless Mary Agnes McNue Main role
2019 Unbelievable Detective Karen Duvall Main role
2020 Run Ruby Richardson Main role
2021 Robot Chicken Mandy, Susan the Tauntaun (voices) Episode: "May Cause the Exact Thing You're Taking This to Avoid"
2022 Roar Elisa Episode: "The Woman Who Was Fed by a Duck"
2023 Tiny Beautiful Things Frances "Frankie" Pierce 7 episodes
2025 Severance Gretchen George 5 episodes
The Bombing of Pan Am 103 Kathryn Turman 4 episodes[27]
The Gilded Age Monica O'Brien Episode: "Marriage Is a Gamble"

Theater

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Year Title Role Playwright Venue Ref.
2003 Cavedweller Cissy Pritchard Kate Moira Ryan New York Theatre Workshop, Off-Broadway [28]
2006 What When Sallie Rinne Groff The Ohio Theater, Off-Broadway
2010 The Female of the Species Molly Rivers Joanna Murray-Smith Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles [29]
2011 The Illusion Elicia / Lyse / Clarina Tony Kushner Peter Norton Space, Off-Broadway [30]
Touch(ed) Emma Bess Wohl Williamstown Theater Festival, Massachusetts [31]
2012 Uncle Vanya Sonya Anton Chekov Soho Rep, Off-Broadway [32]
2015 The Nether Morris Jennifer Haley Lucille Lortel Theater, Off-Broadway [33]

Awards and nominations

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Organizations Year Category Work Result Ref.
Critics' Choice Television Awards 2014 Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Nurse Jackie Nominated [34]
2019 Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries Unbelievable Nominated [35]
Gotham Independent Film Awards 2010 Best Ensemble Performance Tiny Furniture Nominated [36]
Golden Globe Awards 2019 Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Unbelievable Nominated [37]
Independent Spirit Awards 2020 Robert Altman Award Marriage Story Won [38]
Primetime Emmy Awards 2012 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Nurse Jackie (episode: "One-Armed Jacks") Nominated [39]
2013 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Nurse Jackie (episode: "Teachable Moments") Won [39]
2018 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Godless Won [39]
2023 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Tiny Beautiful Things Nominated [40]
2025 Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Severance (episode: "Who Is Alive?") Won [39]
Satellite Awards 2014 Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nurse Jackie Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2013 Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nurse Jackie Nominated [41]
TCA Awards 2019 Individual Achievement in Drama Unbelievable Nominated [42]
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association 2014 Best Ensemble Birdman Won [43]

References

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  • Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
  • Merritt Wever at IMDb

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