Mireille Enos Interview

“Welcome To The Blumhouse” is a collaboration between Amazon Studios & Blumhouse Television and consists of four great thrilling movies coming out almost simultaneously. One of those movies is “The Lie” by director Veena Sud, starring Peter Sarsgaard, Mireille Enos and Joey King. It tells the story of a family having to deal with terrible consequences after a tragic accident happened. We were able to speak to Mireille and talked about the movie, “Hanna” and what the future holds for her.

Liselotte Vanophem: Hi Mireille, how are you doing?

Mireille Enos: I’m good. Thank you. How are you doing?

LV: I’m fine as well. Thanks. So congratulations on the movie. It’s an incredibly wonderful one. What was it that draws you to the script?

ME: I loved Veena Sud’s twisted brain. She just writes the most interesting stories, and she’s willing to take her characters to the craziest places. I think she has the belief that in every one of us, there’s a wild animal that we become friends with, tame and subdue but it’s still there if we need it. She just lets those wild animals come out in her storytelling.

LV: How was it for you to work again with her?

ME: I love working with her. I have such deep admiration for her as an artist and as a person. It’s such a pleasure to be with her company. This was one that was good for the soul.

LV: The emotions were very high and diverse in this movie. How do you prepare for that?

ME: I think you just show up on the day. We all experience different emotions and feelings throughout our lives. I think life prepares you and especially when you have a beautifully written story and wonderful collaborators, you show up understanding the context and then you just let yourself believe in it and see where it goes.

LV: In this movie, you star next to Peter Sarsgaard and Joey King, who are your film family in this case. Do you still remember the first scene you guys shot together?

ME: I really don’t as we shot this movie three years ago, so it’s been a long time.

LV: Can you remember the scene that stood out for you during the filming of this movie?

ME: There’s one scene that I was shooting with just Peter. It was the one when we were in the kitchen, and we’re trying to figure out what to do. By the end of it, we decided that we take her to the hotel. The emotional arc of that scene was very tricky. There was the logical argument, loads of feelings and try how to orchestrate it. Suddenly something made sense to me, and I was on a roll, and the camera was looking at my direction, and we got to the end of the scene, and Peter said something like ‘let’s keep going’. It was so awesome, and he was so supportive and lovely. He’s wonderful.

LV: Your character has to make two huge decisions of which one of them is right at the beginning. It’s about going to look for the friend or not. Would you have done the same as your character if you were in her position?

ME: That’s the impossible question of the film. It’s like how do you choose between the things due which your daughter’s life will be altered forever. If I would have been the one there in the moment, when she says to me that she has pushed her, then I would have called ‘911’ at that moment and looked for her body. However, with that delay of time, I wouldn’t be sure. Was I going to be the one calling the police and were they going to take my daughter away? That seemed unacceptable for my character.

LV: Did you see the twist of the movie coming when reading the script?

ME: No, I didn’t! Didn’t see it coming at all. Veena didn’t tell me anything. She just sent me the script to read, and when it actually happened, I was literally standing up my bed. I stood up my bed, and I just couldn’t believe it! It was crazy.

LV: I think that’s the reaction that everyone’s going to have after seeing this movie.

ME: Yeah, I think so too. I took my husband with me when the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2018. At the end of the movie he said ‘I think I might throw up’, which actually was a very big compliment.

LV: This movie is a part of the four-part “Welcome to the Blumhouse” series. Were you able to catch any of the other films yet?

ME: No, I wasn’t. They look remarkable and incredible in the trailer about the four movies.

LV: What’s next for you after this movie?

ME: I’m working on the series “Hanna” which is also for Amazon. I’m about to film season 3. Beyond that, I don’t know because we’ve been in such a strange limbo with the current situation and so everything is on pause.

LV: Can you tell us a little bit more about season 3?

ME: I can say that it picked up right where we left it at season 2. This season feels like Hanna and Marissa against the world and that they’re very much a united front.

LV: As you said, it’s a strange time during which people also discover some more creative sides to them. What was your creative outlet, apart from acting, during the past few months? 

ME: I had started taking piano lessons right before all this happened. Taking piano lessons is a crazy thing to attempt as an adult. I haven’t played music until this point at all. I kept going, and I was so grateful to have this other outlet to express my creativity while being in the house.

LV: Will we maybe hear you play some piano in Hannah?

ME: Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know if David [Farr, director] even knows this about me. I don’t know if anyone, asides from my family, needs to hear me play.

LV: Good luck with everything and thanks a lot for this interview.

Read our review of “The Lie” here.

Read our interview with writer-director Veena Sud here.