Mireille Enos
Mireille Enos is an American actress born on September 22, 1975, in Kansas City, Missouri. Raised in a Mormon family, she developed a passion for acting early on and pursued her education at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas, followed by Brigham Young University. Enos began her career in New York City, where she appeared in various theater productions and television shows in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Her breakout role came in 2005 with a Tony-nominated performance in the Broadway production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
Enos gained further acclaim for her role as Detective Sarah Linden in the AMC series "The Killing," which earned her Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. She continued to build her resume with appearances in popular television series such as "Big Love," "The Catch," and "Hanna," as well as films like "World War Z" and "Gangster Squad." Known for her ability to portray complex emotions, Enos has established herself as a prominent figure in contemporary dramatic acting. In her personal life, she is married to actor Alan Ruck, with whom she has two children.
Subject Terms
Mireille Enos
Actor
- Born: September 22, 1975
- Birthplace: Kansas City, Missouri
Contribution: Mireille Enos is an acclaimed actor best known for her role as Detective Sarah Linden on the AMC mystery-drama series The Killing. She has received nominations for Golden Globe, Emmy, and Tony Awards.
Background
Mireille Enos was born on September 22, 1975, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Jon and Monique Enos. Her parents met when her father was on a Mormon mission in France, her mother’s native country, and they soon married. They raised Enos and her four siblings in the Mormon faith.
When Enos was five years old, the family moved from Kansas City to the suburbs of Houston, Texas, where both of her parents worked as high school teachers. Enos later graduated from Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, further developing her long-time interest in acting.
At eighteen, Enos entered Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, to study in its acting program. In 1996 she won the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, an honor given to regional winners of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. She used her scholarship earnings to move to New York to attempt to make a living as an actor.
Career
In New York, Enos found parts in theater and began landing television roles as well. In 1999 she appeared in an episode of Sex and the City and two years later acted in two episodes of the Richard Dreyfuss drama The Education of Max Bickford. In 2003 she had a guest appearance on the medical drama Strong Medicine and followed this up with a spot on the comedy-drama series Rescue Me in 2004.
In 2005 Enos made her Broadway breakthrough in a Longacre Theatre production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The show was a huge critical success, and Enos received a Tony Award nomination and widespread attention for her performance. Soon after her stint on Broadway, Enos moved to Los Angeles to break into mainstream television.
On the West Coast, Enos found steady work on television shows, acting in episodes of Without a Trace (2006), Standoff (2006), and Crossing Jordan (2007). In 2007 she received a big break with a supporting role on the HBO (Home Box Office) drama series Big Love, which revolves around a large polygamist Mormon family living in Utah. The show was well received, and the national attention helped give a boost to Enos’s developing career.
Enos appeared in numerous episodes of the show from 2007 to 2010. During this time, she continued to guest star in episodes of other popular programs such as CSI: Miami (2008), Medium (2008), and Lie to Me (2009).
In 2011 Enos made her mainstream television breakthrough when she was cast in the lead role of Detective Sarah Linden on the AMC crime drama The Killing. Based on the 2007 Danish series Forbrydelsen, the show revolves around officers of the Seattle Police Department investigating the murder of a young girl. The Killing received widespread critical acclaim, and in 2011 Enos was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series. In 2012 she was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress.
After the show finished airing its second season in 2012, AMC cancelled it due to low ratings. Negotiations between the show’s producer, Fox Studios, and online distributor Netflix ensued. AMC eventually revived The Killing and began airing its third season in 2013, with Enos and the rest of the cast and crew returning. The show concluded in 2014, however.
The critical success and national attention that Enos enjoyed as a result of The Killing earned her offers to act in several high-profile films. In 2013 she appeared in the action-crime film Gangster Squad. That same year she appeared in her first leading role in a film, costarring with Brad Pitt in the apocalyptic zombie film World War Z.
Enos continued to appear in a number of films throughout the 2010s. Notably Enos starred as artist-turned-crime witness Miranda Fall in the critically acclaimed psychological thriller Never Here (2017). She also played supporting roles in My Dinner with Hervé (2018), a popular, acclaimed television biopic featuring Peter Dinklage, and Katie Says Goodbye (2019), a popular but critically panned independent film.
During this period Enos found further success on television as well. On the ABC crime drama The Catch (2016–17), she starred as the jilted private-eye Alice Vaughan. She went on to play the spy Marissa in season 1 of the Amazon drama Hanna (2019), based on a 2011 film of the same name. In that role she played opposite Joel Kinnaman, her costar from The Killing. Also in 2019 Enos appeared in the debut season of the Amazon comedy Good Omens as a horseman of the apocalypse known as War.
Impact
Showing early promise, Enos has emerged as a significant dramatic acting talent. Her ability to effortlessly channel the intense emotions required of her characters sets her high on the list of serious contemporary actors and has commanded the notice of both critics and fans.
Personal Life
In 2008 Enos married fellow actor Alan Ruck, who appeared in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The couple have a daughter, Vesper Vivianne Ruck, and a son, Larkin Zouey.
Principal Works
Television
Big Love, 2007–10
The Killing, 2011–14
The Catch, 2016–17
My Dinner with Hervé, 2018
Film
Gangster Squad, 2013
World War Z, 2013
Never Here, 2017
Theater
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 2005
Bibliography
Brantley, Ben. “Marriage as Blood Sport: A No-Win Game.” Rev. of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, dir. Anthony Page. New York Times. New York Times, 21 Mar. 2005. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.
Enos, Mireille. “Enos Poised to Make a ‘Killing’ on AMC Crime Drama.” Interview by Gayle Jo Carter. USA Today. Gannett, 3 Apr. 2011. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.
Enos, Mireille. “Mireille Enos Is Killing Us.” Interview by Tom Chiarella. Esquire. Hearst Communications, 15 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.
Enos, Mireille. “Mireille Enos: The Killing Star Avoids the Police-Procedural Trap.” Interview by Julie Bloom. New York Times. New York Times, 26 July 2013. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.
Schneller, Johanna. “Mireille Enos: An Actress Both Gifted and Grown-Up, Even in a Zombie Movie.” Globe and Mail. Globe and Mail, 28 June 2013. 15 Aug. 2013.
Stevens, Abby. “BYU Alumna Mireille Enos Stars in World War Z.” Deseret News. Deseret News, 21 June 2013. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.