For the soft-spoken Mireille Enos, the storyline for her latest project, The Killing, couldn’t have been more heartbreaking yet more thrilling at the same time. After three seasons on HBO’s acclaimed series Big Love playing both Kathy and her twin sister JoDean, Enos was ready to take the lead in AMC’s new serial drama premiering April 3.
Enos plays Sarah Linden, a complicated Seattle homicide detective who is leading the murder investigation of Rosie Larsen. A bit reminiscent of the 1990 Twin Peaks serial and the whole “who killed Laura Palmer” mystery, this series is actually based on the hugely successful Danish series Forbrydelsen. Rosie’s murder serves as the catalyst for the series weaving together three distinct storylines — from the detectives trying to solve the case, the grieving family whose lives are shattered (played heroically by Brent Sexton and Michelle Forbes) to the mystery surrounding a local politician’s (Billy Campbell) potential involvement in the case.
Writer and executive producer Veena Sud (Cold Case) has truly created an emotional masterpiece that’s rich in character and carefully detailed in slow storytelling execution. We met with Enos to discuss her role, life as a new mom and her marriage to Ferris Bueller‘s Alan Ruck (Ferris’ buddy Cameron Frye).
With all the murder mystery serials on today, where audiences have a case and the killer at the end of one hour, how do you build and sustain an entire series around one single murder case?
Mireille Enos: The writing is so incredible. As we get each new script we are all sitting with bated breath. The end of every episode grabs you in a different way. It builds a cliffhanger so artfully. And with the three separate storylines and the tangle of the storylines and how complex that all is — I get done with the script and I can’t wait.
Your character has her own secrets, which we see immediately in the pilot. What can you share about these?
Sarah’s secrets about her past and history will be revealed very slowly. … The hardest part of any version of recovery is that you have to actually let go of your vices to actually get well. When your identity is so tangled into those fears or vices or weaknesses, there’s a little death that happens. It’s for the good, it’s for your own health, but you have to let that part of yourself die a little bit. And I think it’s terrifying for her. If she lets go of this job, which she’s deeply gifted at… she would disappear if she’s not a cop.
The series is based on the Danish series Forbrydelsen. Did you watch it before you started shooting?
No, because I was told the actress who played Sarah was so fantastic I didn’t want to be comparing myself in my own mind.
Who do you want to be the killer?
I have no idea. I don’t know. What a tragedy for whoever it was that did it, how horrible that they went there. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy to carry that around. It’s possible that I haven’t even met that character yet.
Your husband, of course, is Alan Ruck. So, be honest, how many times have you seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?
I’ve probably seen it a dozen times in my life. The last time I saw it, my husband was down in Mexico shooting a series. He was down there for five months and I missed him and I was flipping channels and there he was suddenly. So I had a date with my husband watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I felt like I got to spend the evening with him.
Were you disappointed to miss being in the final season of Big Love?
I loved working on that show. I had such a wonderful time on that. Getting to do [The Killing] is an opportunity of a lifetime. My storyline on Big Love was naturally winding down so the timing couldn’t have been better, so I got to play that out and then do this.
OK, but you’re back in another role that has you in a ponytail all day. What’s with that?
Totally, I know. [Laughing] Always the ponytail girl. I always get these parts, girls with no makeup and their hair pulled back. It’s great, actually. It’s really great. It’s hard work when you are supposed to be beautiful all the time. It’s exhausting trying to be beautiful for 12 hours a day on the set. It’s so much fun to just show up with a clean face and a pair of jeans. I like it.
How did being a new mother and the premise of the show impact you?
I was four months pregnant when I shot the pilot so I was able to keep a distance and keep it separate because I didn’t know her yet. Now that she’s been born — watching the places Michelle Forbes goes and my own love for my daughter — it’s really difficult. There’s days that I have to clamp down.
Your daughter is about 4 months now. How are you balancing motherhood and this role?
There’s never a moment that I’m not on task. I’m lucky that Alan right now took some time off and is being a full-time dad, so Vesper’s on set every day. So every time cameras are turning around I run to the trailer, and then anytime I’m not at work I’m on full-time baby mode. Alan helps me learn my lines with the baby in my arms. If it was more than 13 episodes it might have been unsustainable, but we just hunkered down. For the next three months this is how it’s going to be. She’s a happy, alert baby — just rolling with it.