Merle Jääger (born 19 October 1965) is ääan Estonian television, stage and film actress, poet and author who frequently uses the pen name Merca. Initially associated with the burgeoning Estonian punk rock scene of the early to mid 1980s, she has been described as the "bard of protest". Her career as an actress began in her early 20s and she has received a number of high-profile awards for stage roles.
Early life and education
Merle Jääger was born and raised in Tallinn, where she attended primary school and Tallinn Extramural Secondary School, Tallinn 46th Secondary School, and Tallinn Secondary School of Science. Her father was railway worker and her mother was an accountant. After secondary school in 1983, Jääger studied acting and theatre at the Tallinn State Conservatory (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre) under instruction of theatre pedagogue Kalju Komissarov, graduating in 1988. Among her graduating classmates were actors Elmo Nüganen, Piret Kalda, Dajan Ahmet, Külli Palmsaar, Raivo E. Tamm, Rain Simmul and Anne Reemann.
Career
Acting
Following her graduation from Tallinn State Conservatory, Jääger has been engaged as a stage actress at the Vanemuine theatre in Tartu since 1988, with several lapses. Jääger's production diploma roles were as Prince Hamlet in William Shakespeare's Hamlet in 1987, performed at St. Catherine's Monastery in Tallinn, and as Olga Sergeyevna Prozorova in Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, performed at the Ugala theatre in Viljandi in 1988. Her first two roles as an actress engaged at the Vanemuine were as Florence in a production of Robert Thomas' 1964 play Trap for a Lonely Man, and as Lady Macduff in a production of William Shakespeare's MacBeth, both performed in 1988. During her career at the Vanemuine, Jääger has appeared in roles in productions of such varied international authors and playwrights as: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Oscar Wilde, René Highway, Witold Gombrowicz, Jean Anouilh, Biljana Srbljanović, Charlotte Jones, Tom Stoppard, Arthur Miller, Algot Untola, Edward Albee, C. S. Lewis, Jule Styne, Billy Roche, Ödön von Horváth, Brian Friel, the Sherman Brothers, Tim Firth, Anton Chekhov, Robert James Waller, Ingmar Bergman, Velma Wallis, J. B. Priestley, Kander and Ebb, and Ray Cooney. Among her more memorable performances at the Vanemuine in roles by Estonian playwrights and authors include those of: Kauksi Ülle, Eduard Vilde, Oskar Luts, Ilmar Külvet, Bernard Kangro, Kati Vatmann, Madis Kõiv, Andrus Kivirähk, Andra Teede, and Meelis Friedenthal.
Since 2006, Jääger has also performed as a stage actress in humorous summer productions at the Hansahoovi Theatre in Tartu. She has also written two plays, Saun and Kolhoos, that were performed at the theatre in 2008 and 2009, respectively, with Jääger among the cast. She has also performed, written and directed with the Taarka Heritage Theatre collective, an amateur theatre group founded with the goal to promote and preserve Seto culture and identity.
Merle Jääger has also appeared in a number of television roles. Her first significant role was as Hilda in the 1992 two-part Eesti Televisioon (ETV) period drama film Soo, based on the 1914 novel of the same name (originally titled Kirjutatud on…) by Oskar Luts. In 2009, she appeared as Miia in six episodes of the Kanal 2 crime series Kelgukoerad. She has also appeared in several other Estonian televisions series, including: Kättemaksukontor in 2013, Padjaklubi in 2014, and Viimane võmm and Restart in 2015.
In 1988, Jääger made her film debut in a small role in the Elo Trust-directed and Mati Unt-penned short film Noid. Her first significant feature-length film role was that of Lembala, the wife of 13th-century Estonian chieftain Lembitu (played by Ain Mäeots), in the 2005 Kaaren Kaer-directed historical comedy Malev. This was followed by the role a history teacher in the Ilmar Raag-directed 2007 drama Klass. The film won several international awards and was the official Estonian submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Academy Awards. Also, in 2007, she appeared as Mother in the Kadri Kõusaar-directed family drama film Magnus. In 2011, she appeared in the Mart Kivastik-directed drama Üks mu sõber, opposite actor Aarne Üksküla. Other feature-length film roles include Õnn tuleb magades in 2016, Rohelised kassid in 2017, and Klassikokkutulek 2: Pulmad ja matused, a 2018 sequel to the 2016 René Vilbre-directed comedy Klassikokkutulek. In 2019, she appeared as early 20th-century Seto folk singer Hilana Taarka in the Hardi Volmer-directed historical comedy Johannes Pääsukese tõeline elu.