Tonight marks the finale of what I’m calling the greatest television event of 2014 — Fargo. Last week, we were lucky enough to take part in a press call with stars Allison Tolman and Colin Hanks. Read some highlights from the call below, and be sure to watch tonight’s final episode of Fargo, “Morton’s Fork,” only on FX and FXX in Canada.
How far in advance did you learn about the jump forward in time that took place in Episode 8?
CH: It was when we read the script. They didn’t really say much although I think one of the costumers let it slip that there was going to be some sort of new twist. I wasn’t quite sure what it was.
AT: We had an inkling because the crew heads get the scripts before we do so they can start to plan for the next thing. When they told me they wanted to cut ten inches off my hair, I was like well, either she goes into a prison camp or time is shifting somewhere. I think we kind of had an idea, but we weren’t sure until we actually got that script.
CH: There were whispers about it from some of the department heads, and then, by the time they released the script or read it, I thought it was great. I thought it was really cool. In a strange way, I sort of feel that the reveal in this show is actually sort of better than it was on the page, the way that Scott, the director, sort of orchestrated that in the movement, and when I read it, I thought that’s sweet, but when I saw it, I just started laughing hysterically. That Fargo score comes up, and here is Gus delivering the mail in the most dramatic fashion possible.
There was also the other really interesting touch which I hope it comes across in that episode, but that scene with Molly coming home and Gus is asleep in bed was one of our favorite scenes to shoot because it was just pure behavior. It was really just a very sweet moment that was played out and it wasn’t rushed or anything like that, but in the script, Noah [Hawley] said specifically in the script if this feels like the end of the movie, it’s supposed to. This is supposed to feel like the end of our journey of the show. I thought that that was a really interesting twist, again, because the show has consistently sort of toyed with throwing curve balls and really throwing a lot of stuff at the audience and leaving them sort of on edge and not quite sure what to expect next. It was really, really brilliant to be able to throw this insane curve of just jumping forward and all of a sudden seeing Gus and Molly together and Molly’s pregnant and Lester has moved on and he’s got remarried so that it really sets in motion these last two episodes.
Did the time jump create any challenges?
CH: It wasn’t very hard. It’s all make-believe at the end of the day. Allison and I obviously, we get along quite well, and by that point, we had been spending quite a bit of time together up there in Calgary. So, it really was kind of effortless. It really wasn’t a big change. We didn’t really need to approach it any different. I think really the only thing that might have been difficult was the fake stomach that Allison had to put on.
AT: That was the only difference for me, yes, but it was easy to slip into that kind of like domestic rhythm. It was really easy and really fun, but I’ve never played pregnant before other than like in a two-minute sketch for something. So, that was the part that took the most work for me, but I got into it pretty easily.
Do you feel like you missed out by not being able to play the early part of Gus and Molly’s relationship?
AT: We both think that getting past that kind of bumbling stage for both of them, we stayed in that stage for just long enough, and getting to skip past courtship was kind of cool. It kind of missed how painful that probably would have been between these two sort of awkward people. So, I didn’t miss it. I don’t think Colin did either.
CH: No, I didn’t. I thought that A, it was a fantastic choice on Noah [Hawley’s] part, and B, I think that the way that the characters interacted obviously everyone was very much rooting for Gus and Molly to get together, so I thought it was really sort of a nice twist to let that be the sort of courtship that the audience sees because the audience can put everything else together, and they can imagine how the logging festival went and so forth. It was really cool and it was nice to be able to just jump to the good stuff, so to speak.
In Episode 9, we saw Molly’s theory validated by FBI Agents Pepper and Budge. Allison, how did you feel about your character’s work finally being validated?
AT: It’s so funny; I knew reading that scene how important it was, but it didn’t really occur to me until I got to set that day like what a big deal that was, what a pivotal scene it was. I got on set with Keegan and Jordan and they were both like we’re so excited we get to play this scene, we’re so excited we get to be the ones who finally give her some recognition. I was like, I guess you’re right, this is a big deal, and it’s a long time coming. So, that kind of drove it home and that made that scene really fun to play.
We premiered that episode at a festival in Austin and so we watched the episode in a big theatre full of people. In that moment in the diner when she realizes that someone is going to finally listen to her, this huge cheer came up in the theater, and I was like oh, that’s so cool. People [have] been sort of suffering with Molly for this whole time, and getting to see her have that breakthrough was so cathartic for all the fans. It was really neat.
Allison, speaking of the screening at the ATX Festival in Austin, what are your thoughts on the communal experience of watching an episode of television, and seeing people’s reactions in person, in real time?
AT: I love it. I got to see the pilot that way at the premiere and then I watched the pilot again at a premiere party with just my friends in Chicago and then again this weekend. I would watch every episode that way if I could. It is so fun and so interesting to read the energy from a room full of people, to see where the laughs are and what makes them gasp and what makes people kind of cry out in horror. The energy from that room was so fantastic.
Colin, can you speak to playing against type and portraying a law enforcement character that contemplates the consequences of his actions.
CH: I think you’re always trying to find new turf as an actor to veer into and explore. From the very first scene in the pilot, here was a character that obviously is out of his depth, out of his element, and is acutely aware of it and has that self-awareness and knows that his actions have consequences. It’s very obvious that he makes the wrong decision but for the right reasons, which is to protect his family. That doesn’t change throughout the course of the season all the way up to the finale. Gus didn’t necessarily want to be a cop. He had this other sort of thing that he wanted to do, but he needed to provide for his daughter, for Greta, so he took the best job that he could, but he always looked at it more as sort of a community service almost as opposed to enforcing the law. He does know that whatever he does, it needs to be for the right reasons and he knows that all of his actions have very serious consequences.
Can you both talk a bit about working with Keith Carradine?
AT: Keith is one of the nicest men that I’ve ever met, and for someone who has been doing this for a long, long, long, long time and certainly could be—I think certainly would have earned the right to sort of like sit in his trailer and skip rehearsals and then just kind of like roll on set and do one take and then walk off, he is just one of the nicest men that I’ve ever met. I think he’s so fantastic at channeling Lou and channeling this sort of gruff affection that really comes across. Every scene I got to play with Keith was just easy.
CH: Keith has been around a long time and nothing really rattles him. Not only is he a great person to work with, to act opposite with, but he’s great to just hang with, and the three of us had some dinners together and he’s full of stories and just an overall just really fabulous, fun, exciting, vibrant guy.
AT: He does have the best stories, really good stories.
Joey King has been fantastic as Greta, and both of your scenes with her have been great. What was it like to work with such a bright young talent?
AT: I think it’s partly that that character is written very wisely, and part of that is just Joey who is a really smart, sort of self-sufficient, very confident young woman that is perfectly cast in this role of this young girl who takes care of her dad. I think she’s awesome and she’s super fun to be around when the cameras aren’t rolling as well.
CH: Allison is spot on. The character is very much written that way, but that’s very much who Joey is. She’s incredibly confident, sure of herself, comfortable at all times … and really funny. She has a razor-sharp wit. One of the great things that Noah did is you only hear [Greta] in Gus’ first scene, you only hear her on the walkie, but you instantly fall in love with her and her energy, and then Gus does everything he can to protect her. Then you meet her and you just go oh, this is the coolest kid in the world. You hope your kids are as cool as Greta Grimley, and with a name like that, she better be cool.
Without giving too much away about the finale, were you both satisfied with how it ends, and will fans be pleased with it?
AT: I hope that fans will feel like the ending is satisfying and makes sense but also that they didn’t see it coming. I think that’s always kind of the goal. I don’t want it to feel like that they knew this is how it was going to end up, but I don’t want them to feel like they were left hanging at all.
For me, I think that the finale grew on me the more we filmed it. When I read the final episode, I didn’t like it as much as I like it now, and after we got to play it and after we kind of put all the pieces together, the more and more right it felt as things went through as we sort of continued filming, and now, I really love it. I think that all the ends are tied up properly and everything is where it should be.
CH: I feel the same way. Obviously, you spend quite a bit of time sort of working towards a goal, and we all came in knowing that there would be a beginning, middle and an end to this, and so, you sort of build it up and in your mind when you’re working on it. Keep in mind we worked on this for five, six months, so a little bit longer than those watching, but the more we shot it, the more we filmed it, I really think that it comes to a pretty great conclusion that I hope is satisfying to the viewers; that’s always the hope and you don’t want to alienate them, that’s for sure.
Without spoiling anything, Molly is super pregnant, and you can obviously tell that this is going to come down to some final showdown of one kind or another in the finale. We do get the satisfaction of that, but Molly’s extreme pregnancy is I think also a huge hurdle for her, and then also, not just Gus but also her dad, there’s a lot of people who are really worried about her involvement — and not just her involvement, but her determination to sort of see this thing through to the end.
That was interesting to play, and for me, as an actress, it was difficult for me to come to grips with it after spending all of these months with Molly pursuing and pursuing and pursuing to kind of come to grips with the fact that she now had these limitations both physically and also just with obligations to the people around her. Ultimately, I feel like the series ends up the way that it’s supposed to and everyone ends up happy and fulfilled in the ways that they’re supposed to be.
We’ve seen Gus go from being a cop at the beginning of the series to becoming a mailman because of a mistake he made in the field. Will Gus have an opportunity to redeem himself before the season ends?
CH: Possibly. That’s me trying to be as coy as possible.
Now that Fargo is nearly behind us, what can you say about your overall experience with being a part of it?
AT: I can’t begin to tell people what an awesome experience this was and what a love project it was for so many people, how amazing our crew was, how lucky we were to go to work every single day and for me to meet these people that I know will be in my life for the rest of my life. So, my heart is breaking. I’m so sad for the series to be over, for us to kind of wrap it up and put a bow on it is going to be really hard and really sad, but I know how lucky I am to have been a part of this at all and to have it have been my first project is just such a blessing.
CH: For me, it’s been great. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been challenging, but it’s overall been a very, very positive experience. Now that the show is coming to an end, it’s time to sort of put that to bed and move onto the next thing and try with all of my might and power not to compare the two because everyone is different … every project is its own thing.
I think for me having been on a couple of TV shows and been doing this for a while, the reception that it’s got, the quality of the show, the quality of the people that we made the show with, all of that was pretty evident while we were making it and while it’s being aired, so I’m just enjoying it as much as I can and trying to experience as much of it as I can. It’s not always like this, and I’m sure I probably sounded like a grumpy grandpa to Allison a few times saying take all this in as much as you can because it’s very rarely like this, but more importantly, it’ll never be like this again because it’s your first show.
AT: Unfortunately and fortunately for me, I’ll compare every project I do moving forward to Fargo.
Photo Courtesy of FX
