Q&A with S. Epatha Merkerson: ‘As long as I can work, I will’
A longtime staple of both “Law & Order” and “Chicago Med,” S. Epatha Merkerson has appeared in more than 650 Dick Wolf-produced TV episodes, more than any other actor.
At age 73, she is still going strong as the tough yet empathetic head of patient and medical services on “Chicago Med,” now in its 11th season on NBC. She is just one of two cast members who have been on the show its entire run, along with Oliver Platt.
“Dick knows that I’m focused, that I come to work and I know my lines,” Merkerson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a recent interview before receiving the On Her Shoulders Preservation Award from the Atlanta-based Black Women Film Network.
Here are highlights from the talk:
How she landed on “Law & Order” in the early 1990s: “I had done a Broadway play, ‘The Piano Lesson.’ I was cast as Berniece, and one of the producers of ‘Law & Order,’ Joe Stern, was a huge theater person, and he came to see it. That’s how I got my first job with ‘Law & Order,’ an episode called ‘Mushrooms.’ That led me to other shows with Dick. In 1993, ‘Law & Order’ had ended its third season, but all the stars were men. I think there was a directive from NBC that they wanted women on the show. And that’s how Jill Hennessy and I ended up on the show as regulars.”
Why she stayed with “Law & Order” for 17 years until the first run ended in 2010: “The writing and being in New York. I come from the theater, and it allowed me to do theater at the same time. So it was a great way to make money and do good television and get onstage.”
After directing, producing and acting for five years without Wolf, she basically told him she wanted back in: “With Dick, it was just because of our long history, I could say to my agent, ‘Tell him I want a job.’ And he got me one.”
She immediately sensed “Chicago Med” had legs: “The stories are extremely focused and interesting and character-driven. If the stories are worthy, you’ll have fun performing them. And we have great writers. You can always count on a Dick Wolf production because it focuses on the words, the story and the people.”
Commonalities between her “Law & Order” character Anita Van Buren and “Chicago Med” character Sharon Goodwin: “I think that there are some similarities because they’re women who are in charge. They’re both upstanding, focused women. But what I love about Goodwin is that she jumps into all different areas of the hospital. This season, she performed a surgery on an airplane.”
On the storyline from Season 10 where Goodwin gets stabbed by a stalker: “I had fun with the stalker. It was unlike anything that had been written before for Goodwin. It was a challenge because the PTSD she had wasn’t something she could easily fix.”
On Goodwin losing her ex-husband (played by Gregory Alan Williams) during Season 11 to Alzheimer’s: “Greg is extraordinary. I loved him on ‘Greenleaf,’ too. He played such a crazy character. But I’m going to miss (acting with) him terribly, not only because he’s an extraordinary actor, but he’s also just a great human being with a sense of humor to die for.”
On shaping her character: “‘Chicago PD’ star Jason Beghe told me this. He said if you want to know what’s going on, go to L.A. and sit with the writers in the writers room. So for the past nine years, I’ve been doing that. It’s amazing to sit in the room and see the notes and contribute.”
On Anita Van Buren ever returning to “Law & Order”: “She didn’t die! She’s still there! I actually have this fantasy that Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay’s character on ‘Law & Order: SVU’) comes to our hospital, and we pass each other, and she stops in her tracks and thinks I look like someone else.”
On Dick Wolf’s involvement in all seven of his active shows: “He’s not a figurehead. He sees every script. If there’s something he doesn’t like, it’s gone. He doesn’t suffer fools, but he’s got a great sense of humor. Whenever he comes on set, he’s always so positive about what we’re doing. I’ve seen his children grow up. He’s a family man who has this business that’s incredible.”
On winning the Black Women Film Network award: “It’s called the On Her Shoulders (Preservation) award. I remember the women whose shoulders I stood on over the years, idols like Ruby Dee and Lena Horne and ladies on TV like Diahann Carroll, who I actually got to meet later on. Then I worked with women like Barbara Montgomery, Mary Alice and Yvette Hawkins. They taught me wonderful things and were quite supportive. To find myself in that position of helping others and helping Black women is really an honor. I’m tickled, actually.”
On the future: “I feel good. As long as I can work, I will. I’m doing some theater next year. I’ll just work until I think I’ve done enough. Think of George Burns!”
If you watch
“Chicago Med,” 8 p.m. Wednesdays on NBC, available on Peacock the next day
If you go
“Pillars of Empowerment” display featuring items from S. Epatha Merkerson’s “Chicago Med” Sharon Goodwin character, Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., $12 adults, APEX Museum, 135 Auburn Ave. NE, Atlanta, apexmuseum.org.
