Actress gets her big break on ‘Fargo’
CHICAGO — Though set within the same frigid landscape as the 1996 Coen Brothers movie, the limited-run FX series Fargo isn’t so much an adaptation as it is a close cousin.
Since its premiere last month, the show has revealed itself as one 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 in a recent interview.
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 is played by Chicago actress Allison Tolman in her first major role.
Sweet, cunning and contemplative in equal measure, Solverson at first glance looks like a Campbell’s Soup kid who grew up to become a police officer. She is an unassuming presence.
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 actor Bob Odenkirk.
Q: After 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. . . . 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!
Q: Molly often seems to show off a certain facial expression when communicating with these—
A: Idiots?
Q: Yes! And the look on your face suggests that you’re trying to figure out the square root of the color blue. But it’s meant as a bit of a mask, right?
A: She’s such a smart cookie, I think she’s always putting things together in her head.
Q: You’re back in Chicago for the time being?
A: Hopefully, there will be a second season for Fargo, but I don’t know if I’ll have a job. (The show is an anthology, and Hawley said he has yet to decide whether any of the characters will return if there is a season two.)
If there is no second season and I’m not involved, I think I need to move to L.A. . . . to start hustling to find the next thing.
Q: Did you make enough money from that you don’t have to seek 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.
My ’98 Camry broke down, . . . and I was like “Wait — I can buy a new car.”