By Nina Metz
Chicago Tribune.
CHICAGO
Though set within the same frigid landscape as the 1996 Coen Brothers movie, the new FX series “Fargo” is not so much an adaptation as it is a close cousin.
Three episodes in, it has revealed itself to be a show larded with sight gags, stubborn Midwestern manners, character quirks, black humor and oftentimes a serious and observant look at mangled humanity.
“It’s the best of America versus the worst of America,” is how creator and executive producer Noah Hawley described the show’s crime genre last week by phone from Los Angeles.
Dealing with all those frauds, morons and psychopaths is the character of Molly Solverson, a police deputy tasked with unraveling a series of murders in her small Minnesota town. She’s played by Chicago actress Allison Tolman in her first major role.
The Coen Brothers are not directly involved in the 10-episode series, which airs at 10 p.m. EDT Tuesdays, but the film’s legacy looms large.
Frances McDormand won an Oscar for her role as the no-nonsense Minnesota police chief at the story’s center.
To offset that memory, Hawley created a brand-new character who is distinct but shares many traits with her inspiration.
Sweet, cunning and contemplative in equal measure, Molly Solverson at first glance looks like a Campbell Soup kid who grew up to become a police officer. She is an unassuming presence, the brown of her hair matching her brown vest and parka; her tan uniform blending into her pale skin.
It’s a deceptively complicated performance, one that conceals plenty behind that polite Minnesota facade. Tolman is the one unknown lead on a show that also features Billy Bob Thornton, “Hobbit” and “Sherlock” star Martin Freeman, Colin Hanks, Keith Carradine and “Breaking Bad’s” Bob Odenkirk.
“To the network’s credit,” Hawley says, “FX said Molly can be a discovery. We don’t need to cast a name actress in the role.”
Tolman got the role by submitting a taped audition, which is rare but not unheard of.
After seeing roughly a hundred actresses for the role, Hawley got a look at Tolman’s tape. “And here’s a woman I’d never seen before who was very grounded, but she got all the nuance of the comedy. And immediately I thought, ‘Well, that’s her!'”
The show began shooting in Calgary, Alberta, in October and wrapped last month. Tolman has been home only a week or so, back in time to record an episode of the comedy podcast “City Life Supplement,” a project she has been involved with for a few years.
(The podcast goes on indefinite hiatus after next month.) Last week, over tomato soup and tea in Lincoln Park, the 32-year-old Texas native who moved to Chicago in 2009 talked about her sudden career boost and working with some of Hollywood’s biggest names. The following is an edited transcript of our conversation.
Q: After they saw your audition tape, the next step was a screen test in New York, right?
A: Yeah. When you go in to do a screen test, you negotiate your contract and sign all your paperwork before you even get on a plane. So at this point I was working part time at a photography studio, making $13 an hour and not sure if I’m going to make ends meet. And meanwhile I’m negotiating this contract for, like, insane amounts of money! Which was just hilarious and insane. To be negotiating the size of a trailer while I was counting pennies to buy Starbucks. It was so stupid!
Q: There’s an expression Molly often has on her face when she’s communicating with these …
A: Idiots?
Q: Yes! And the look on your face, it’s as if you’re trying to figure out the square root of the color blue. But it’s a little bit of a mask because that polite befuddlement is gone whenever Molly is with her dad (played by Keith Carradine).
A: She’s such a smart cookie, I think she’s always putting things together in her head. A little Geiger counter is going. The only thing I can say really changed about Molly from the first time I read her is that. Because I think my natural way of playing her was, “Are you (expletive) kidding me?!” And they stressed to me, repeatedly in the first two episodes, to play up the nice, play up the nice. Remember, that’s the way to get things done in Minnesota.
So I think that, layered on top of my natural inclination to play it like, “Are you serious? You’re a total moron!”, that’s what’s happening on my face. That internal struggle.
You do get to see her lose that veneer later in the season. You get to see that drop, and it’s really heartbreaking.
Q: There was a small Chicago contingent on “Fargo,” with you, Bob Odenkirk, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele (the latter two appear later in the season as FBI agents).
A: Yeah! Bob is from Naperville, and we talked about it frequently. He’s definitely a Chicago boy.
My boyfriend and I are talking about moving to Los Angeles. And Bob’s like, “I’ll take you around and show you the neighborhoods, and we’ll find the right one for you, so you feel like you’re not in L.A. but you’re still kind of in Chicago.” He gets it.
The first day I met Bob, I don’t think we filmed together. We met, and he was like, “What are you doing? Wanna hang out? Let’s go to a bookstore!” I was like, “OK, Bob Odenkirk!” So we spent a day together at bookstores.
Q: Everyone was away from home during the making of the show. Would you hang out at night together?
A: We had a meal one night with Bob and Jordan and Keegan and myself and Martin and Stephen Root (who appears later in the season). It was crazypants, man.
Q: You’re back in Chicago for the time being?
A: I’m going out to L.A. in May to meet with agencies and find an agent (there). I’ll spend the rest of the month there while the show is airing, just to take meetings and be available for anything. Hopefully, there will be a second season for “Fargo,” but I don’t know if I’ll have a job. (The show is designed as an anthology, and Hawley said he has yet to decide if any of the characters will return if there is a Season 2.)
If there is no second season and I’m not involved, I think I need to move to L.A. by September or October to start hustling to find the next thing. I originally wanted to stay in Chicago as long as I could. I love Chicago. I don’t love L.A. I don’t want to leave Chicago.
I’ve started to think about it less as digging in my heels and staying in Chicago and more about putting my time in Los Angeles now, and maybe I can live wherever I want in a few years. … It’ll be an adventure. It’s not a city I love, but maybe I’ll find a part of it that I really enjoy, and Bob will help me find a neighborhood that feels like home. And then I can come back to Chicago in a few years.
Q: But you’re coming back for the summer?
A: My plan right now is to be in LA for the month of May, and then I’ll be here for the summer. I’ll definitely be back by May 31 for our last “City Life Supplement” show (which tapes at the Holiday Club; go to citylifesupplement.org).
It’s like “A Prairie Home Companion” but set in a city. It’s about young people in Chicago instead of old people in a small Lake Wobegon town.
We write a new show every month and record it in front of (an) audience and then put it up as a podcast. I’m really proud of it, and I’ve loved this project. And for me, while I was kind of unmoored and not working and not getting to act and not sure what I was doing, it was my saving grace.
Q: I’m guessing you made enough money from “Fargo” that you don’t have to worry about temping or picking up any more day jobs.
A: I’m still working out what I made. There are taxes. And Canadian taxes. And my agent. And my manager. And my publicist. Who all get a percentage.
But I’m more comfortable than I’ve ever been before. I’ve never had money before in my life. Ever. Never, ever. Like, my ’98 Camry broke down and finally gave up the ghost yesterday. And I was, like, wait, I can buy a new car. That’s an option!
