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There were plenty of skeptics when FX announced plans to adapt the now-classic Academy Award-winning 1996 Coen brothers picture Fargo into a TV series - myself among them. Questions about how the series would work quickly arose, and I was relieved to find that the network had decided the show would tell its own unique story - an anthology, set in Minnesota (with ties to Fargo) and featuring a brand new set of characters. Still, as the ever-impressive cast list grew, there was plenty of reason to remain doubtful - the film was simply so unique that it would be almost impossible to replicate. Watching the pilot episode completely washed away my fears about this 10-episode limited-run series though, because not only was writer Noah Hawley able to reimagine the fantastically dark side of Minnesota Nice, but within just over an hour I was completely drawn into the story of Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) and his newly-uncorked aggression. When Billy Bob Thornton spoke to SpoilerTV and other press outlets last week he talked about what set the series apart from the film and how television has become the best place to reach his audience.
We meet Thornton’s Lorne Malvo under unusual circumstances in the opening moments of the pilot, and he only grows more complex as the episode advances. “I think what really attracted me to him was not as much that he didn’t have a conscience as he has this bizarre sense of humor where he likes to mess with people,” Thornton told us. Indeed if two things are made clear about Malvo in the first episode it is his apparent lack of any moral compass as well as an almost child-like habit of making others squirm for his own enjoyment. While Freeman’s Lester Nygaard is given a proper introduction - we meet his family, see him at work, get to know what makes him tick - Malvo is a complete blank canvas. As he arrives Bemidji, Minnesota where the first episode takes place, he brings with him an air of havoc.
“Usually when you’re playing a character you think a lot about their backstory,” Thornton explained, “and in this instance I didn’t want to do that, because I doubt Malvo thinks much about his past anyway.” The actor went on to compare Malvo's advances to those of a snake charmer (“Once he looks at you you’re under his spell”) and noted that while playing such a confident and cool character was a departure from his own personality, it really wasn’t hard due to the strength of the work. “Noah Hawley’s script was so tightly written, so good, that all I kind of had to do was show up.”
While the supporting cast is certainly stellar (perhaps reason enough to tune in, with Colin Hanks, Bob Odenkirk, Oliver Platt and Glenn Howerton also appearing) the project would be nothing without a fantastic script. Billy mentioned that while he hadn’t been looking for a TV project specifically, this one seemed like something special. Speaking about the recent boom in film stars moving to television, Thornton said he had noticed a shift over the past several years, pointing to HBO’s The Sopranos as a turning-point which signified that television could do exactly what film could - perhaps even better. Thornton recalled that while he was coming up as an actor in the 80’s, TV was a “bad word”; a place promising film careers went to die. “On TV you have more creative freedom now. And I think part of that is censorship has loosened up over the years and now you have sex and violence and language on TV. So all those things that made us not want to do television when I was coming up in the 80’s are gone.”
Thornton also saw advantages in how the story and characters could develop. “I’ve been accused many times as a writer/director that my pace is too leisurely and it’s too long…. well, here’s a chance to do that kind of thing, and you’ve got 10 hours to do it.” Still, the question loomed, what was it about Fargo specifically that lured the Oscar-winning star to television? Certainly he could have chosen a less controversial script to start with as many were quick to write off this series before it even began production. “I’m not as worried now because of the way it works with social media - there are a lot of blogs and this and that. You can’t win anyway,” Thornton explained. “If Fargo [the film] had come out in 1986 and this in 1996 I would have been more worried.”
Besides, there was little to worry about once Billy got his hands on Hawley’s pilot script. “Noah managed to walk a tightrope with this thing and he does a great job. I mean, he captures the tone of the Coen brothers and kept the spirit of their movie and yet made it its own animal which is a pretty tough job.”
Fans of the original can judge for themselves when Fargo debuts tonight, but as far as Thornton is concerned, the cast and crew have received just about the only blessing that matters. “Since we’ve started I’ve talked to Ethan [Coen] a few times. And Ethan, when asked about the pilot, he said ‘Yea it’s good.” And for Ethan to say yea, it’s good, is like him saying ‘This is fucking amazing!’ … they’re not real forthcoming with their emotions.”
Fargo premieres tonight at 10/9c on FX and SpoilerTV has lots of coverage to come over the next two days including a preview of the pilot + another exclusive I got with series-star Martin Freeman.
Follow me on Twitter for updates on Fargo & all my SpoilerTV work and check out the full transcript of Billy Bob Thornton’s press call below.
