‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ For Hulu Adds Merritt Wever, Michaela Watkins & Owen Painter

Lynette Rice
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Merritt Wever (Godless) is joining Michaela Watkins and Owen Painter as recurring guest stars on Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things, the Kathryn Hahn starrer in the works from Liz Tigelaar that’s based on Cheryl Strayed’s New York Times bestseller.

Wever plays Frankie, the resilient and resourceful single mother of Young Clare and Young Lucas (portrayed by Sarah Pidgeon and Painter, respectively), whose belief in abundance over scarcity, and putting oneself in the way of beauty, transforms her children’s life of poverty and becomes a touchstone for Clare (Hahn) as she takes up the mantel of the anonymous, revered advice columnist, Sugar, in the present.

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Watkins portrays Amy, an emerging novelist and the decades-long best friend of Clare, whose decision to remain childless and pursue an artistic career has been shaped by a mother loss of her own — though a different kind than Clare’s. And while their friendship is very real, each serves as an in-her-face reminder of the lives they could have had, had they chosen different paths.

Painter plays Young Lucas, the younger brother of Clare, whose life veers unexpectedly off-course after the devastating death of their mother, Frankie.

Wever has appeared in Birdman and Righteous Kill, along with Netflix’s Unbelievable and Godless. She is repped by Lisa Lieberman at Innovative Artists and Lisa Loosemore at Viking Entertainment.

Watkins was most recently seen in the Emmy-nominated Hulu limited series The Dropout and is also known for her starring role Valerie Cole in Casual, which was run by Tigelaar. Watkins is repped by Haven Entertainment, United Talent, and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson McGinnis Ryan.

Painter’s first job was as a guest star on The Handmaid’s Tale, acting alongside Elisabeth Moss and OT Fagbenle. He is repped by Laura Hersh at Industry Entertainment.

Tiny Beautiful Things is a half-hour series about a woman who reluctantly becomes Dear Sugar — an anonymous, revered advice columnist — when her own life is falling apart. Told in multiple timelines with astonishing intimacy, nerve and candor, she excavates the beauty, struggle and humor in her own life to show us that we are not beyond rescue, that it’s our stories that will ultimately save us.

From ABC Signature, the project reunites Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern and Strayed from their Oscar-nominated collaboration on Wild, and Witherspoon, Tigelaar, and the team at ABC Signature from their Emmy-nominated collaboration on the Hulu series Little Fires Everywhere.

Tigelaar serves as creator and showrunner.

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