For its third season, Fargo is arguably getting its biggest star yet. And the show appears to be getting double the value.
Ewan McGregor will play the leading role in season three of the FX drama. Or should that be leading roles? According to Entertainment Weekly‘s James Hibberd, McGregor has been cast as two brothers on the show, Emmit and Ray Stussy. Making this even more intriguing is that the brothers will not be twins.
Here is the official description of the characters released to the media on Friday:
“Emmit Stussy is the Parking Lot King of Minnesota. A handsome, self-made, real estate mogul and family man, Emmit sees himself as an American success story. His slightly younger brother, Ray Stussy, on the other hand is more of a cautionary tale. Balding, pot-bellied, Ray is the kind of guy who peaked in high school. Now a parole officer, Ray has a huge chip on his shoulder about the hand he’s been dealt, and he blames his brother, Emmit, for his misfortunes.”
Fargo, you had me at “Parking Lot King of Minnesota.” Hopefully, Emmit Stussy refers to himself as such at least once during the season. But seeing the handsome McGregor as balding and pot-bellied should also be entertaining. Maybe the two Stussy brothers will look like “before” and “after” photos.
https://twitter.com/aherman2006/status/733755674455216128
Series creator and showrunner Noah Hawley has said that the third season of Fargo will take place in 2010, a few years after the events of season one, which occurred in 2006. Season 2 of the show was set in 1979.
“It’s the story of two brothers and a feud between them on some level,” Hawley told USA Today’s Bill Keveney. “And the brothers are just a couple of years apart.” Hawley also mentioned that one character from a previous will appear, and two of the prominent police officers in the story will be female characters.
No other cast members have yet been announced for Fargo‘s third season, but McGregor continues the trend of actors primarily known for film work going to television for prominent roles in anthology series. Actors who may not want to commit to longer television roles don’t have misgivings about signing on for shorter, eight- to 10-episode runs for stories that last only one season.
https://youtu.be/-F5gQy6z-0U
Season 1 of Fargo featured Billy Bob Thornton, while Kirsten Dunst was one of the stars of season two. HBO’s True Detective is perhaps the best example of this, with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson starring in season one of that series, while Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Vince Vaughn were the featured players in the show’s second season.
According to reports, production on season three will begin later this year, with episodes airing in 2017. Fargo tends to shoot during the winter months to capture those cold, snowy Great Plains landscapes.
