Dark and Danish

WHEN slow-burning Danish police thriller The Killing hit our screens, it became an unexpected, word-of-mouth hit. Although it had subtitles and was broadcast late at night on BBC4, by the end of the series it had amassed more viewers than Mad Men.

It had a similar effect on audiences across the world, including in Belgium, Australia and Germany. In Denmark, where it was made, the streets apparently emptied while it aired and even the lead character’s trademark woollen jumper became the subject of much internet and office discussion.

It could have been daunting to take the lead role in a US remake of such a hit series, especially given that many remakes of cult foreign films haven’t been well received.

But Mireille Enos, who takes over from Danish actress Sofie Grabol as homicide detective Sarah Linden (Sarah Lund in the original) laughs at the thought. “Why be worried?” she asks.

“I had no control over it. We could only do the best possible job creating it. Some of our US audience would have been familiar with it but most wouldn’t, so in some way it was something new.”

Enos, who played twins in Mormon drama Big Lover, decided not to watch the original series because “I wanted to keep it out of my mind from the ground up”.

The Killing begins as Sarah, a wellrespected and instinctive detective, is about to leave her job to move to San Francisco with her fiance and 13-year-old son. When the body of a teenage girl is discovered in a local lake and the Seattle council president becomes implicated, she’s compelled to call off the move and her wedding to look into one last case.

The Killing focuses on only one murder case throughout the series, exploring the implications of that murder on the family of the victim and the community at large. Enos thinks this approach is what made the original so popular. “People are hungry for a series that slows down and allows you to invest in the people affected by what happens,” she says.

IN this series, as in the original, the events are also carried by the fascinating female detective at the centre of the drama. Describing Sarah, she says: “Life seems very hard for Sarah. She’s learnt to defend herself from her own big emotions. She has a son and a relationship that’s more or less successful. I think she’s very brave.”

Enos was five months pregnant while filming the pilot and her baby daughter, Vesper Vivianne was only six weeks old when she started filming the full series.

“By the last day of shooting the pilot I was in a men’s extra-large size windbreaker and they could only shoot me from the front looking directly into camera,” she says.

“I was eight months pregnant when we found out the series was going ahead and in Vancouver, so I got lots of little sweaters and baby Uggs at the baby shower. Then we made it a family adventure, packed up the baby, and me and my husband drove ourselves up there when she was six weeks old.”

Enos is married to actor Alan Ruck, who helped her by looking after their daughter while she was working, and bringing her to the set once in a while.

The remake has already gone down well in the US, where she’s been nominated as best actress in the Broadcast Critics Awards and is being recognised in the street for the first time: “It’s a really sweet kind of response. I’ll be standing in line at the store and someone will say how beautiful my baby is and then very quietly say, ‘The show is great by the way’,” she says.

A second series is possible and she accepts that this could be the role that makes her, but insists that her feet are still firmly on the ground.

“I’m solidly in my 30s and I’ve had to have a kind of patience. Now I feel like I’m here and this show is a great platform for film and other TV work, but I’m grounded.”