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 Olivia Scott Welch, who plays Julie, Hank and Lily’s daughter. She talks about bonding with Bob Odenkirk over Mr. Show sketches, the many comedic moments of intergenerational communication featured on the show, and why she thinks alone time is so important.
Q: We’re still getting to know Julie, but by Episode 4 we have a sense of her relationship with her parents, and especially her dad, Hank. What was it that really hooked you on this project? Was it Julie herself, the prospect of working with these showrunners, or maybe you were a fan of the source material? 
A: I remember getting the audition over the summer, in an email, and looking at it and thinking, "Okay, this sounds interesting." I think the logline was literally lifted from the back of the book, so it was very well-written, funny, and sardonic. Sometimes you get emails as an actor for projects where you read the title and you're like, "Hmmm I wonder what this is," and then, as you scroll down the email, the email just keeps getting better and better. Then you see who the producers are and you're like, "Oh, that's cool!" And then you see the cast attached and you're like, "Whoa! What is this? Why are they sending this to me?!" And that's really how this one felt.
[Showrunner] Paul Lieberstein is a very recognizable name, and when I started acting I was watching The Officeevery week with my parents. Then I realized how many amazing things Aaron [Zelman, showrunner] had worked on that I really loved. My dad is a huge, huge Saturday Night Live fan and a huge comedy fan, so I had seen so much of Bob’s comedy work but had never watched Saul or Breaking Bad—I just knew him as THE comedy guy. When I realized that Lucky Hank would be him swinging back to comedy I was like, "That's such a cool thing for him to do." So, I did the audition tape and it's my favorite audition I've ever done… and then I sent it off into the void. I was like, "There's no way I'll book this." But then they really liked it!  
Q: Julie’s relationship with her parents is good, but with the whole pool announcement debacle in Episode 2 we definitely come to learn that Julie isn’t necessarily always on the same page as her parents. What was it like creating this family unit with Bob and Mireille?  
A: Oh my goodness, it was so fun! It's genuinely been the most fun I've had working with people in terms of creating a universe. Bob and Mireille, they're both so dedicated and it was amazing to work with such incredible established actors. They’re just such masters of the craft and I feel like it came about very naturally for all of us. Bob and Mireille are so different in the way that they show love and I feel like the three of us just became, I don't know, subconsciously aware of each other and created this dynamic between the three of us that was really cool. There were a lot of times where I'd be like, "What would it be like if Bob and Mireille were my actual parents? What would be the things that I really loved about them and what would be the things that I got annoyed with?" And then it was so satisfying to do our group scenes because I feel like all that stuff came through because every scene felt almost like a play.  
Bob and I really bonded off screen to play father/daughter over bizarre comedy from the '70's, '80's, and '90's. He was so lovely with me and I'm such a nerd about comedy, so I'd be like, "Hey, have you ever seen this Monty Pythonsketch? Did that have any influence over this Mr. Show sketch?" And he would be like, "Well, funny you should ask because, slightly, yes." And then we would talk about it. So, there were times during filming where I would be like, "Can I show you this Mr. Show sketch and then can you tell me about it?" And he'd be like, "Of course! That's such a fun thing for me to reminisce on." So, he really let me artistically grill him over the sketches, which is just so amazing.
Q: It’s interesting to see how Hank’s relationship with his dad or lack thereof has really impacted every facet of his life. He did the opposite of his dad and seems to have been really involved in Julie’s childhood, but that doesn’t mean that he knows how to communicate with her or vice versa. Some of the most realistic depictions of child/parent conversations take place in Episodes 1 through 4 and they’re so delightfully cringey. Communication between generations is just rife with comedic opportunities, isn’t it? 
A: Yeah! It was funny doing this one scene with Bob in Episode 3, because after we finished filming, a lot of the guys on the crew were like, "Aaaa, ooo, that was a rough one because I've had that conversation before with my kid and it's gone just as bad!" I would read the scripts and I would call my dad and be like, "This is the funniest thing ever! We’re doing this scene…" and my dad would be like, "Aww, remember when we did that in real life? We had a weird fight about money?"
Q: Julie doesn’t see Railton the same way as Hank. Sure, she may still be figuring her life out, but she isn’t completely miserable to be figuring it out there. The town is full of some very interesting characters, so this must have been such a fun set to be on. Did you get a chance to build friendships with your cast mates before filming started or were these connections made on screen? 
A: This cast got to be really, really close. It all started before filming because we all made an effort to be like, "Saturday night we're eating dinner and we're watching a movie!" And then that was kind of how it was for the first few weeks! Everyone was really like, "No, we want to get to know everybody," but then very quickly it became, "So, what are we doing this weekend?" Like, "What's everybody up to?" And Nicole Holofcener, who directed Episodes 7 and 8, at one point midway through filming we were all talking. We were like, "Where do we want to eat dinner tonight?" Like, everyone's getting off work, we're filming this big group scene, so where are we eating dinner? And she was like, "I've never been around a cast that eats more dinners than you people." Her phrasing of it was just so funny. [Laughs] Everybody really got close and truly spent so much time together while we were filming. It was the biggest gift I think I've ever received in life, just spending that much time with that group of people.
It's rare and when you have a crew of such outstanding talent, I think people on the outside tend to think, "Oh, there must be big personalities and folks rubbing each other the wrong way." But that's not necessarily true obviously.
Yeah, and it really wasn't with this group. Everybody was so generous on and off screen. Everybody was so lovely to spend time with! Watching a group of incredibly seasoned and professional actors do a group scene together and be so generous with each other was amazing! Seeing them be like, "Oh well, I've had three lines in this scene, and you've only had one. You should maybe take this line. I'll throw it to you so we can share this line. That would even be funnier if we all had something to say on this beat." Nobody was selfish at all, and everybody genuinely wanted everyone else to do well to make the show the strongest it could be. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen!
Q: So how do you disrupt the ‘misery business?’ What are the little things that you do day-to-day that bring you joy?
A: Oh, this is such a good question! I think going to spend time with someone who you know can make you laugh. I feel like that's sometimes nice, to just step into a world where you're like, "We both are not having a great day, but we don't have to talk about that right now. Or we can. But we can also talk about other stuff and then just laugh." I think finding somebody that makes you really laugh is perfect. But then if not, I love going out to eat or going to the movies by myself and just kind of being like, "I’m going to go do something solo, think about the stuff that I'm going through, but out of the house." Go watch a wacky little movie. Go back home. That’s always nice.
I think that's special because a lot of people have a hard time spending time with themselves.
I haven't always been great at it. But it was something that this year specifically I was like, "I want to be okay doing things by myself because I'm not and I think I need to figure that out."
I think going to eat or going to the movies are hard things to do alone!
For sure. It's never not a little bit awkward, but that's what makes it funny!

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.