Nurse Jackie Star Merritt Wever: "Zoey Would Annoy Jackie Sober"

Get our interview Jackie's hilarious and adorable trainee nurse

We love Merritt Wever!

If you've watched even one installment of Showtime's Nurse Jackie this summer you know that much of the show's hilarity is courtesy of Merritt's character, trainee nurse Zoey Barkow.

As the critically acclaimed dramedy winds down season one, we rang up Merritt to find out what really happened with that drug overdose, where Zoey goes when she leaves home at night and what Zoey would do if she were to discover that her idol Jackie was a junkie...

Why did Zoey administer the wrong dose of the drug to Victor Garber's character, Neil Nutterman? Did the Pyxis screw up, or was it just a total mistake on Zoey's part?
Zoey made a mistake. I hadn't even realized that people would think it was the Pyxis or stuff like that. Very cool. I don't want to burst anyone's bubble if that's what's going on, but it was just a mistake. The whole first season takes place within a few weeks, so Zoey's really brand-spanking new, but she means so well.

What kind of nurse will Zoey be in 20 years, when she has as much experience as Jackie?
That's the thing about being on a TV show—it doesn't make sense to start making decisions that are too big about the character, because the writers will just hand you a script next week and tell you that you were wrong, and it'll always be something much better. I kind of wouldn't want to make that decision, and I think the writers are much better at telling me what she's going to be like.

All we know about Zoey is that she likes pink, cats and panda earrings, and that she's not quiet and mean. What kind of personal life do you visualize her having outside of the hospital? Where does she live? Does she date?
I could describe my own ideas, what I think of her, but the truth is I'll be told something much better by the writers and wish I'd kept my mouth shut.

Oh, come on, tell!
I think she lives with her mother, I think she commutes to work, and I have a feeling she doesn't live in Manhattan.

How do you think Zoey would react if she learned about Jackie's darker side?
I think it would be a huge deal. I could see Zoey staging an intervention, thinking she should take it upon herself to sober Jackie up. I could see her thinking this is why she was sent to the hospital. I think she would get all of the pamphlets and literature she could possibly find on drug addiction, and Zoey would annoy Jackie sober. And I say annoy lovingly. She would care Jackie sober, because she does think she's the best thing since sliced bread. Zoey adores Jackie. She thinks she's a great lady.

One last random question: When did you first learn you were funny?
I don't know—when you told me, at the beginning of the phone call? I started to really cross my fingers when people started laughing.