Wever has appeared Off-Broadway in Brooke Berman's Smashing and Kate Moira Ryan's Cavedweller.
Screen work includes "Signs," "The Wire," "Michael Clayton," "Law & Order," "Into the Wild," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "The Messenger." She currently co-stars as student nurse Zoey Barkow on the hit Showtime series "Nurse Jackie."
Wever will next be seen in Bess Wohl’s Touch(ed) at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, playing August 3-14.
| Full given name: | Merritt Carmen Wever |
| Where you were born/where you were raised: | Born and raised in Manhattan |
| Zodiac Sign: | Leo |
| What your parents did/do for a living: | My mom worked for the city as a caseworker/civil service manager. A single mother by choice. |
| Current audition song/monologue: | I am without. I tend to just go in and wow writers with my improvisational improvements on their insignificant "words." |
| Special skills: | Shame Mulling it over Amateur Slavic folk dance |
| Something you're REALLY bad at: | Choosing favorites
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| First Broadway show you ever saw: | I'm Not Rappaport |
| If you could go back in time and catch any show, what would it be? | Something with Geraldine Page |
| Recent show you have been recommending to friends: | Tony Kushner's Intelligent Homosexual's Guide... |
| The one performance – attended - that you will never forget: | Specifically, Cherry Jones' entrance as an old woman at the top of Pride's Crossing |
| Music that makes you cry, any genre: | Much of Bob Dylan and Nina Simone. Much of music in general. |
| MAC or PC? | MAC |
| Most played song on your iPod: | I looked and it's a song I've never even heard. So now I know that someone is sneaking into my room at night and listening to Animal Collective while watching me sleep. That's so f***ed up. |
| Most-visited websites: | Gmail |
| Last book you read: | "Collected Lyrics of Edna St. Vincent Millay" |
| Must-see TV shows: | "Parks and Recreation" |
| A film you consider a classic: | "A Woman Under The Influence" |
| Performer you would drop everything to go see: | A friend |
| Pop culture guilty pleasure: | I'd like to fit texting into this category. |
| Three favorite cities: | Prague, NYC, and hopefully somewhere I haven't been yet |
| First CD/Tape/LP you owned: | Raffi, probably. But I think the answer you're really looking for is Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl." |
| Your personal acting idols or role models: | I'm wary of having idols or role models. But Gena Rowlands in the John Cassavetes films was a big discovery. |
| First stage kiss: | Lucas Papaelias in Brooke Berman's Smashing |
| Favorite or most memorable onstage role as a child/teenager: | Being a member of the children's chorus at The Metropolitan Opera |
| How you got your Equity card: | Cavedweller by Kate Moira Ryan at New York Theatre Workshop |
| Favorite liquid refreshments: | Water, caffeine, beer |
| Worst flubbed line/missed cue/onstage mishap: | I was supposed to stab someone but forgot to bring on the knife. I think I just looked at my partner apologetically, balled up my fist and grinded it into his abdomen while growling "Erggggg, I'm stabbing you!" |
| Who would play you in the movie? | Fetch me a lass who looks like Sam Kinison and feels like Woody Allen. |
| Something about you that surprises people: | Contrary to my conduct, I was not emotionally abused as a child. |
| Something you're incredibly proud of: | Paying my rent as a working actor |
| Something you're embarrassed to admit: | I'm a 3-to-5 trick pony. |
| Career you would want if not a performer: | Something in the non-profit realm |
| Three things you can't live without: | No more specificity for you! "Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread but give us roses." |
| "I'll never understand why..." | ... I willingly participate in a job that often feels like being in the stocks. |
| Words of wisdom for aspiring performers? | Oh honeys, my deepest condolences. |
