‘The Lie’ Stars Joey King and Mireille Enos Discuss Keeping Secrets and Creating Empathy

“Can you imagine if this was like a Marvel script and I didn’t know the ending?”

THE LIE is the latest crime thriller from Blumhouse Productions as part of the WELCOME TO BLUMHOUSE package. Directed by Veena Sud and starring Joey King (THE ACT), Mireille Enos (THE KILLING), and Peter Sarsgaard (GARDEN STATE), the film follows a family who must take action to protect their daughter after she confesses to the killing of her best friend.

 The film seemingly begins as a typical crime drama as the butterfly effect of the events begin to unfold, but a twist in the third act changes everything that happened up until that point. When asked how knowing the ending of the film affected her choices as an actor, King said:

“I wanted to shape her in a way where we don’t give away anything, but you experience having both feelings towards her. We wanted to experience you having empathy for her and feeling related to her in some way—understanding her loneliness and depression—but also understanding that her brain is working in this sinister, almost insane way.”

Playing the difficult role of a mother who has to face knowing what her own daughter is capable of, Enos had this to say about choosing the moments to either sympathize with or root against her:

“Rebecca’s response to the divorce and her family falling apart is that she’s committed herself to being the Type A organizer [and] planner of their lives . . . in that process, she has really left her daughter abandoned. She’s must more interested in her work than everything that is happening in front of her . . . [her daughter] is hurting and she is not stepping in to solve that.”

THE LIE is streaming now on Amazon Prime. Check out the full interview below and let us know what you thought of the film in the comments.