Chicago Sun-Times

May 9, 1996

Every workplace, it seems, has at least one annoying sourpuss. The diehard "ER" grouch is Dr. Kerry Weaver, a nagging nitpicker with high professional standards and a low tolerance for mistakes and mediocrity. As chief emergency room resident at Chicago's fictional County General Memorial Hospital, Weaver never fails to aggravate her busy, dedicated colleagues.

"She's a tough cookie," said Laura Innes, the former Chicago theater actress who plays the efficient, demanding ER taskmaster. "She's not trying to be warm and charming. Somebody has to be the bad cop - the one who keeps the system running smoothly, checking budgets and work schedules."

Weaver is "an authority figure, making her an obvious antagonist for the ER staff," said Innes, phoning from California. "That's how I see her objectively. But I'm not objective when I'm acting. My character believes in helping people and doing good work. Weaver doesn't think she's a shrill nag. She's low-key, with a dry sense of humor. She doesn't need to raise her voice. Other characters who complain about Weaver sometimes wind up saying: 'I hate to admit it, but she's right.' I love to hear that."

Weaver works with an unspecified physical challenge, wearing a leg brace and leaning on a flexible metal cane device. Her affliction "doesn't matter to her," Innes said. "It's not an issue. We know she has - or had - a close relationship with an African man. So far, 'ER' hasn't shown the private side of Weaver. I wish one episode would deal with the tension between who she is at work and who she is away from work."

Tensions between Weaver and Dr. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) have frayed nerves this season. But in tonight's ER episode Weaver suggests a compromise that could help Lewis become chief resident. Anthony Edwards, the ER actor who stars as Dr. Mark Greene, directed tonight's drama. "In each scene, actors and directors try to find an unexpected moment or subtext that's not obvious in the writing," Innes said.

Before dividing her time between NBC's ER and the short-run CBS sitcom The Louie Show, the Northwestern University graduate had performed onstage here at the Goodman, Body Politic, Northlight and Wisdom Bridge theaters.

Innes will spend her four-month ER vacation with her husband and son, relaxing in Minnesota. "It's important to be with my family," she said, with no hint of grouchiness.