We asked ‘Fargo’ showrunner Noah Hawley to let us follow him for two days.
Thats one reason Hawley should have been concerned.
The other was that I just arrived to follow him around for two days.
Credit: ART STREIBER for EW
So when Hawley agreed, I was surprised, yet also not.
Hawley pushes for more time to makeFargobecause he doesnt consider it a TV series at all.
Youll notice in interviews that Hawley uses a different, more amibtious word to describe his content.
We just dont have HBOs money.
We gotta run harder and faster.
And over the next two days, I got to see how hard and fast Hawley could run.
If this comes out, all the things you want thatwewant its over, Dunsts Peggy desperately told Ed.
They cut and went again, and again, honing their performances.
The scene set a record for the most number of takes in the production.
Dunst struggled to convey the perfect mix of desperation, panic, loving empathy, and threatening guile.
A visiting FX executive leaned over to Hawley: Why did you have to write such complicated emotions?
Hawley helped reassure Dunst with an intuitive email sent the night before she started filming.
It made me cry it was so thoughtful, she said.
He so eloquently put Peggys journey into words and said that he has confidence in me.
It moved me so much.
I have so many to learn!
But every night its like cramming for a test.
It feels like Ive made four films.
The effort paid off, with Dunsts performance nominated for a Golden Globe this week.
And as it turned out,Fargoalso made Jean Smart cry, though in a different way.
Literally, a brief meeting about chickens: A production assistant had a question for Hawley.
The assistant wanted to be sure he got the rightsizeof chicken.
He selected ones that were kind-of medium-ish.
Because what if the chickens are overly plump?
Or, worse, distractingly puny?
Hawley quickly approved the chickens.
Hawley explained that a crackling fire will be added in later with CGI.
CG has become spackle, duct tape, and a magic wand rolled into one.
Hes not slow, he just sees the world in a simple way, Plemons said.
As we chatted inside a tent, Dunst secretly hid behind a tent flap eavesdropping.
She later mischievously explained: Jesse told me hehatesdoing interviews, so I wanted to listen in.
I just wanted to either shoot somebody or say uff-da just once, the formerDesigning Womenstar said.
The first day they cut and dyed and styled my hair I burst into tears, Smart confessed.
But after 10 minutes, I was fine and I loved it.
That its not a glamour role is incredibly liberating.
You dont have to care about looking skinny, or wheres the camera.
Nearby, Donovan waited between setups.
He was quite the sight in Dodds gold chain, sideburns and steel-tipped boots.
Hawley wasnt the only one who felt some pressure to live up to the first season.
Many in the shows cast confessed to feeling that weight as well.
The first season is a high bar, Donovan said.
Suddenly youre like, Holy s, Im not doing my job!
Smart shot back: Me?
Im just trying to tell the story better.
Hawley told the editor as gently as he could.
I dont think you spelled Minnesota right, my friend.
If that sounds dull, well, yes.
Its deeply boring, thankless, detail-oriented, brain-numbing, non-glamorous work.
Hawley was seated with fellow executive producer Warren Littlefield, who was a legendary NBC executive in the 1990s.
Hawley is the driving creative force ofFargo, but Littlefield is also hands-on behind the scenes.
They chatted with assistant director Philip Chipera who was tasked with figuring out the schedule.
Its difficult to explain how good these were.
Hawley picked up on it.
Youre not going to hurt my feelings, he assured.
We were in a Calgary civic building ready to shoot a scene from early in the season.
This scene was the one originally cut from the schedule, then rescued.
you’ve got the option to file this scene under inessential yet awesome.
When in need of serious drama, Hawley said, do a slideshow.
Hawley inspected the real-life conference room that will be used.
There was a very long heavy wood table, but not in the right place.
Even blandness needs to be designed, Hawley said and he grabbed one end of the table.
Once the stage was set, Brad Garrett entered.
Garrett nonetheless had to audition for the part.
Ive never played a character like this, I gotta bring my A-game, he said between takes.
The one thing is I dont do my own stunts, Garrett noted afterward.
They had to get a guy to even run for me thats how much of a non-athlete I am!
The great and secret book:Fargois full of tangents that onlyappearto be tangents.
You cant do the same gimmicks again, the showrunner noted later.
You need all-new gimmicks.
The prop master asked Hawley what kind of leather the book should have.
How ornate is the cover?
What kind of images does he want?
Ill write it, Hawley quickly volunteered.
Hawley wrote the scripts for his entire first season, which is extremely rare.
He wisely got some help writing his more ambitious second season.
If youve ever wanted to know what it takes to have your own breakout TV show, thats it.
So Hawley waited for fake snow to be added around a downtown courthouse.
The important thing is generating a sense of quiet rural isolation, not the snow.
When you break down the towns name, its perfectly evocative: Far and go.
A bored member of crew started helpfully doing my job by quizzing Hawley about his season 3 plans.
Maybe go into the future next time?Space Station Fargo: Year 2550, Hawley replied.
How about you go in progression to the 1980s?Nah, thats too … neat.
What about going further back in time?Yes, lets gowayback and have everybody speaking Swedish.
The meeting rather precisely detailed the fabled Massacre at Sioux Falls.
So I wandered into Hawleys open office instead.
His walls were covered with production photos.
There was nothing decorative or personal there.
Unasked question from my notes: Ask if they ever secretly switch jobs without anybody knowing.
One of the first things you notice when talking to Danson is he makes strong eye contact.
This is the closest Ill ever get to being in a musical, he said.
Hawley told Danson his sheriff character is like a cowboy poet, which the actor finds apt.
There is stuff that happens this season thats astounding.
And that he gets away with it makes him such a great writer.
Next it was Wilsons turn to chat.
There is a lot of years between the two, Wilson figured.
Hes at a different place in his life.
Maybe Lou left and went to Southern California for awhile.
The reason is ironic: Toomuchsnow.
Filming outside the cabin wont match the earlier snow-less footage.
Departure:As it turned out, Hawley was right about the snow.
Nobody watching this season is talking about what the ground cover looks like.
So perhaps Hawley didnt have anything to be nervous about after all.
Sure,Fargos ratings havent improved, but thats okay.
At one point on set, Hawley said: Its getting harder and harder to make something timeless.
Theres so much now and its thrown at you so fast.
Those movies became iconic because they stood alone.
Now you sit inTransformers 5and youre seeing things the human eye has never seen and yet youre bored.
My goal is to do something … more.
