Merkerson played Lieutenant Anita Van Buren for 17 seasons
Credit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- S. Epatha Merkerson changed her afro hairstyle to secure the role of Lieutenant Van Buren on Law & Order
- Merkerson has appeared in over 500 episodes of Dick Wolf’s shows and joined Chicago Med in 2015
- She credits Dick Wolf for her long career and says she’s still enjoying her work at nearly 74 years old
S. Epatha Merkerson says she had to change her appearance in order to book her iconic role as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on Law & Order.
Merkerson, 73, first appeared on the procedural drama as a guest star in a 1991 episode. Around the same time, she also landed work on South Beach and Mann & Machine, both of which were created by Dick Wolf.
The actress tells PEOPLE that when NBC told Wolf he needed “to bring women on” to Law & Order, he gave her a call.
“[Dick] called me in, and he said, ‘It’s your hair. NBC has a problem with your hair,’” she recalled. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’ Because I had a big afro, and I said, ‘It’s the hair? I’ll go home and fix it, and I’ll come back,’ and I did just that.”
“When I walked in, he just looked at me and he said, ‘That’s Van Buren.’ That’s how it started,” Merkerson adds. “My relationship with Dick, it was an immediate connection.”
Merkerson officially returned as a regular series lead in 1993, playing Van Buren for 17 seasons and appearing in over 390 episodes before stepping away from the role in 2010.
NBC did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Credit: Virginia Sherwood/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
“Law & Order — people still watch it, which is so amazing — is all about the storytelling,” she says. “You have good stories and good actors; it’s bound to succeed.”
“It was a phenomenon really, and to have been a part of that has really been an honor for me,” Merkerson adds.
After Law & Order ended, Merkerson returned to the stage until one day her manager called saying he had just gotten off the phone with Peter Jankowski, President and Chief Operating Officer of Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment, who told Merkerson’s agent that the legendary producer still “loves her.”
“I said, ‘Tell him I want a job. Tell him exactly that Epatha says she wants a job,’” she remembers. “And he called me back, I bet you it was 15 minutes later, and he said, ‘If you want to go to Chicago, there’s a job.’ “
Merkerson joined the cast of Chicago Med in 2015.
“What that says to me is that I have a good working relationship with Dick and with Peter and Arthur [W. Forney], the people that work there,” she says. “They know that I believe in what we do. They know that I participate and I try to do my best in everything.”
Credit: George Burns Jr/NBC
About Wolf, she says, “he changed my life.”
“The world that he put me in, that he allowed me to work in, I have to come with the right stuff. You can’t last if you’re not doing what needs to be done,” she emphasizes. “It says a lot about my work ethic that he continues to trust that I’ll come in and do my best. It says a lot about what he thinks of me as well, which I appreciate.”
Merkerson continues, “Who knew coming into this that I would be in this world all these years? I’ve done over 500 episodes of shows with Dick. That says something about the shows that he produces.”
As for her work on Chicago Med, she notes that “the group of people that have assembled this year is a pretty extraordinary group, and I have such a great time working with them there.”
“They’re young, and they’re so good, and I love their energy. All of them are so bright, and they have great senses of humor. At this time in my life, I’m having a great time. That says a lot,” she tells PEOPLE. “That says a lot that I’m comfortable where I am, I’m enjoying the people that I work with, and I’m very happy.”
“I’ll be 74 in November, and I’m still having fun. I’m still enjoying the work, and I want to continue to do it as long as I can. It’s like I told the kids when we first started: we’re going to be here for at least 10 years. This is Dick Wolf. He’s a good guy. He’s very focused, and the work that he produces, he looks for the best in everyone because he brings the best, and this has been the best.”
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