From the executive producers of Better Call Saul and The Office comes Lucky Hank, starring Bob Odenkirk and Mireille Enos. Meet Professor Hank Devereaux (Odenkirk), the English department chairman at an underfunded college in a ho-hum town where mediocrity prevails. Life’s been throwing him some curveballs lately with his wife Lily’s (Enos) new career goals, constant chaos at work, and the return of his estranged father. With that, Hank spirals into a midlife meltdown taking everyone with him. In this interview with amc.com we speak with Mireille Enos about Lily’s relationship with Hank, her uncanny ability to resolve conflict, and why the Devereaux’s “lovely life” just isn’t enough for her anymore.       
Q: By Episode 2 we really start to get a better sense of who Lily is and what her relationship with Hank is like. What was it that really hooked you on this project? Was it Lily herself, the prospect of working with these showrunners, or maybe you were a fan of the source material? 
A: The hook for me was that first scene in the pilot where Hank has that monologue in the classroom with Bartow. It was so articulate and funny. It's really rare in television that characters are given words to say, given chunks of text to show who they are. I think that's often the difference between stage plays and screenplays, right? That in screenplays so much of the story is told through action in silence, which is wonderful. It's a very interesting way to work. But I was thrilled sitting there reading all of the language and how smart and funny it was. I knew from that first page, I was like, "I don't know who Lily is yet, but I want to be in this world." [The show] walks that line between the absurdity of life and the heartbreak of life, and these questions that every human goes through as we live our lives. We question how we've arrived where we are. We wonder if we're in the right life. It just really resonated for me.
Q: In Episode 2 Julie has news for her parents... and what Lily and Hank expect to hear is far from what is announced. The camera focuses on you and Bob during your reaction and your faces say it all. What was it like creating this family unit with Bob and Olivia? Bob said that the whole cast was really close!  
A: Yeah, we adore each other! It's such a testament to Aaron and Paul, the way that they hand-picked this group of people. We just love each other. So right away Bob and Olivia and I, we just dove right in. We really felt like family. The first two episodes — it was for everyone, not just for the family, but for everyone — it was like we were solving a puzzle trying to figure out exactly what the tone was. Even the writers were saying, "We're building a world, but when it's three-dimensional, we don't actually know how to say to you what the tone is. We're finding it." We were trying to figure out how much we lean into the comedy or how much we lean into the naturalism, and how can we bring both into the world?
I definitely remember shooting that scene, which is so hilarious. [Laughs] You could easily just jump headlong into the comedy, right? So we kept having to restrain ourselves and be like, "Okay, but we have to keep it in the real world too." And what exactly is that balance? It was tricky, but really exciting to figure that out and find what felt right. Once we got it we were like, "Oh yeah, I think we're in the zone!" Everyone in the cast got more and more comfortable, so by Episode 4 and then definitely by 5 we were like, "Oh yeah, this is the sweet spot. This feels really good!"
Q: I was a huge fan of The Killing, so it’s clear that you’re obviously no stranger to playing powerful and complicated women. Even though the tone of Lucky Hank is a lot lighter and brighter, Lily is still totally a force to be reckoned with. It’s so interesting to see how she’s able to resolve conflict at work and at home rather seamlessly. There’s a real calmness to her... maybe she gets that from running?  
A: Well, she's interesting! I think a lot of women who are wives and mothers fall into this pattern of — and I say that because I see it in myself — we fall into the pattern of, "I'm the keeper of all the details. That's my role in the family. I'm going to fill in the gaps and just carry us along. I know what everyone needs at every moment. I'm constantly checking in and making sure that everyone's okay." And the danger of that of course is that you can lose yourself. You can stop asking, "Am I okay?" Instead, you're like, "The husband's okay and the house is okay and the daughter's okay!" And then since she works with students, she’s also like, "And the students are okay!" Everything is rolling along, and we have our lovely little life!
I think for a long time she stopped asking herself tough questions. She’s just like, "Yes, life is lovely!" Sure, it wasn't what she expected necessarily. She didn’t hit the goals that she had when she was young, but we all make compromises as life presents itself. We make compromises and she has a really sweet existence. But I think Lily's attachment to making sure that everything is in place, has made her a little disconnected from what her personal goals are while she supports Hank and Julie’s goals. This story is framed around Hank's midlife meltdown, but I actually think Lily is at a clutch point too, you know? She's like, "My daughter's married and out of the house. And there's lots of hours in the day. So what am I doing? And what am I choosing for myself?" So, we're going to get to see over the course of the season that sense of calm start to crack. 'Cause things, you know, they have to get messier before they get better a lot of the time. It has to get worse before it gets better. Her and Hank are both going to have to stare things in the face that they've been ignoring in the name of ‘life is good, let’s just roll along, and this is a pattern that we're comfortable with!’ Suddenly that's not enough.
I think that’s what makes her so relatable.
Yeah, I think so too. That's another thing about what drew me to the project. It's just so human and relatable.
Q: Speaking of her calmness and her ability to resolve conflict, Lily’s insights into Hank’s inner workings seem to always hit the nail on the head—she definitely gets him. What was it like building that dynamic with Bob? There’s a real intimacy and authenticity there.    
A: We were comfortable very quickly with each other, even just sitting down for our first meeting. It turned into a two-hour lunch! We're both in long-term marriages. I think we both approach this work of storytelling with real curiosity about what it means to be alive on this planet. And we're both — maybe Bob even more than me — not easily satisfied with, "It's good enough." We're like, "But what else? But what's the underbelly?” So, there's a real easy partnership there on set and a willingness to say, "Yeah, we're just going to keep digging and we're just going to keep being curious about each other." We both wanted to make a world that feels real, that feels like a real long-term relationship.
Q: I think a lot of viewers are going to really relate to Lily, particularly when it comes to her relationship with Hank. She definitely keeps “the misery business” at bay in her household. How do you disrupt “the misery business?” What are the little day to day things that bring you joy? 
A: Oh, that's a nice question! I’ve been studying Tae Kwon Do for 16 years. That's one of my happy places. I'd never been musical at all, and I started learning the piano as an adult four years ago. It’s a very humbling experience to learn something completely different as a grown-up and it's been wonderful! I think I tend to be a goal-based person, so even if it's like — you know, this is kind of embarrassing to admit — but even if it's like just reorganizing a cupboard, it feels like a little goal-based gift that I give myself to mark the progress of life. Those small things really help me calm down, and feel present and active in my life.
I'm the same way. I love lists!
Yeah, I love lists! I mean, it's probably like dopamine, right? But there’s a little lift that happens when you check something off! You're like, "Oh, I did that today!"
It's the satisfaction of crossing it off the list for me.
Yeah, it's really powerful!
Q: Well, I hope we get to spend more time with Lily in Season 2.
A: Yeah, me too. Me too! I really want a second season, mostly because this is such an incredible group of people and we just dig each other, you know? So, it would be lovely to get to keep telling stories together.
Full episodes of Lucky Hank are available to stream on amc.com (with a cable provider login), the AMC apps for mobile and devices, and AMC+ subscribers get early access to episodes on Thursdays. AMC+ is available at amcplus.com or through the new AMC+ app available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku. AMC+ can also be accessed through a variety of providers, including AppleTV, Prime Video Channels, DirectTV, Dish, Roku Channel, Sling, and Xfinity. Sign up for AMC+ now.