Is that you, Ewan?

Yes, it is Ewan McGregor, playing two very different brothers in the new series of hit thriller Fargo. Here he tells why – and how – he did it...

Every actor will tell you they got into the business so they could take on the challenge of slipping into the shoes of a raft of different characters, but very few have the skill to transform themselves into two people within the same show. For British movie star Ewan McGregor it’s becoming a bit of a habit. He’s already done it twice before – in sci-fi thriller The Island he took on the roles of Tom Lincoln and the character’s body clone Lincoln Six Echo, and in Last Days In The Desert he played both Jesus and the Devil. Now he’s taken on the challenge a third time in what is without doubt the most complex double act of his career – playing brothers Emmit and Ray Stussy in the third series of Channel 4’s hit drama Fargo.

The show is inspired by the Coen brothers’ 1996 film of the same name and has already won two Golden Globes and two Emmys. Each run explores a crime story based on a new set of characters and set in a different era but the same town of Fargo, Minnesota, and has seen a roster of famous faces including Sherlock’s Martin Freeman and Hollywood stars Kirsten Dunst and Ted Danson appear.

The latest outing – in which Harry Potter actor David Thewlis is also cast as a ruthless villain – is set in 2010 and centres around the Stussy sibl ings. Whi le Emmit’s a wealthy businessman, Ray’s a struggling probation officer with a major chip on his shoulder, believing his brother robbed him of the life he deserves following an incident decades earlier. When Ray falls in love with smouldering temptress Nikki Swango, she entices him into a revenge plot against his brother. But even though their plan backfires when they find themselves caught up in two murders, they remain determined to bring Emmit down once and for all.

It’s not just the plot that’s created a buzz in the industry, it’s the sheer physical demand of the roles Ewan’s taken on. The Stussys may be brothers but they look – and sound – totally different. Emmit, dubbed the Parking Lot King of Minnesota, is suave and besuited while Ray is balding, fat and sports a dodgy moustache – and Ewan couldn’t resist the challenge. ‘I’d been contemplating this other TV idea which would have meant signing up for several years,’ he says. ‘When I was told they were casting the third season of Fargo and they were looking for an actor to play two brothers I went and watched the first two series. They were amazing, it’s blinding writing, it feels like a movie. They let me read for the new series and I was in.’

Health- conscious Ewan had to pile on the pounds to play Ray, demolishing desserts, chips and fast food for three months before filming started. ‘I’d been waiting all my career for someone to tell me to get fat and I did it wholeheartedly,’ he laughs. ‘I ate whatever I wanted and I made sure I had chips with everything. I was bald and fat on my Christmas holiday because I had to have my head shaved to play Ray. I plateaued over Christmas, and then two weeks before we started shooting, I started loading it on again.’

During filming Ewan had to endure over two hours a day in the make-up chair to ‘uglify himself’, to transform into Ray. He wears a fat suit too to give Ray some extra roly-poly features, but a nude scene in the first episode that sees Ewan and his co-star Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the bath together meant he had to be chubby in real life.

The physical torture didn’t stop there. Because he was playing both characters, often on the same day, he’d have to slip out of the fat suit and squeeze his chubby body into a pair of Spanx – super-tight control pants – to play Emmit. They hid his belly and made his posture more upright, adding to his air of superior- ity over his brother. Two wigs – a receding one for Ray and a cooler cut for Emmit – complete the looks.

Then there’s the Minnesota accent. It’s tough for anyone to master, but Ewan says it was especially hard for him. ‘I’ve never spent any time in Minnesota, and it’s not really in my ear,’ he explains. ‘Even when I was doing it right, I didn’t feel like I was. Some of the sounds are so close to Scottish, and a lot of it sounds like a bad Irish accent. For the first month I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right. It got more comfortable the further in we went but I really had to work on it. To get to play these two very different people, to create two unique characters, it’s been amazing. I loved it.’

With filming over, Ewan’s main worry now should be shedding the excess weight so he looks as buff as possible for awards season.

‘I’ve waited all my career for someone to tell me to get fat’

Ewan as Ray and (inset) as Ray’s suave brother Emmit