S. Epatha Merkerson has opened up about the one person who helped her land her iconic Law & Order role. She plays Lieutenant Van Buren on the iconic show.
As reported by People, she says that Meg Simon, a casting director, was the driving force behind her being catapulted into stardom. "Meg came to see me in a play, and I got The Piano Lesson because of Meg Simon," she recalled.
"I had never worked with Lloyd Richards, I did not know August Wilson, and there I was on the very Broadway stage in an August Wilson play. That was because of Meg Simon."
More specifically, she starred as Berniece in the Pulitzer-Prize winning play. Of course, being in something with so much acclaim being pulled toward it, she received a lot of attention.
At the time, she said that she didn't even know what Law & Order was. She recalled the first time she really realized just what she'd gotten herself into. "Our company manager, it was back in the day when I smoked... She used to come into my dressing room, and we'd have a cigarette."
"One day, she's there with me, and I said, 'Oh, I have this audition for this thing called Law & Order.' She went, 'Oh, you're kidding me. Have you seen it?' And I said, 'No, I'm here.' And she goes, 'Oh, no no no. You're going to love it, I'll bring it in tomorrow.'"
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The 'Law & Order' Episode Gave Her a Good Impression
Her first experience with the show, as with most people's, was its iconic soundtrack. She was hooked—who wouldn't be? She remembered thinking, "Whoa, the music is hot".
Merkerson went on to explain that it was Joe Stern who helped her land her iconic Law & Order role. "Part of [landing the role] had to do with the fact that the producer of the time, Joe Stern, the New York producer, was a big theater fan. That's why they saw me."
So it turns out that Joe Stern's love of theater ended up landing her the role. But without Meg Simon, she wouldn't have got it.
