ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was your audition process like?
WILLIAM H. MACY:Crikey.
Well, I read the script and loved it inordinately immediately and desperately wanted to do it.
Do you want to read Jerry?
I said, Yeah.
They said, Thats real good.
Want to work on it and come tomorrow?
I said, Yeah.
Then I called everyone in L.A. that I knew, and they all did rounds.
I was up all night.
I learned the entire script.
I worked it and worked it and worked it.
They said, Thats real good.
I actually said that.
You know, you cant play that card too often as an actor.
Sometimes it just blows up in your face, but I said, Guys, this is my role.
What about Jerry convinced you that you had to play him?
Its an actors job to fall in love with his character and fight for that character.
Ive seen actors fall afoul of this without even knowing it.
You say, Hey, you got a role.
Oh, Im playing this ahole.
Hes sort of stupid and backwards.
Jerry is not stupid.
He had a plan, which was a solid plan, to ensure the financial future of his family.
Thats a noble thing to do, and I didnt think he was a bad guy.
But I was horrified with myself, I was rooting for you!
How did filming go, apart from being cold?
First of all, it wasnt cold.
I think we were there in January/February.
It was one of those winter thaws.
Normally, it would be below zero every day, but it was as warm as could be.
There wasnt much snow.
In fact, they ended up trucking in a lot of snow, bringing snow-making equipment.
It was just planned very well.
And they had time to do crazy stuff.
I was in the car dealership waiting while there was a short set-up between shots.
Rather than go back to my trailer, I just sat there, and I was doodling nervously.
Ethan came around the desk and said, What are you doing?
They loved it and got a shot of me doodling, which made the cut.
I guess I had started it during the take with [Frances McDormand], pretending to write.
Every single time you came in, you had to stomp your feet.
I have to ask about the windshield scraping scene.
Thats had a life of its own.
I think they sort of left it to me as to what that would look like.
We might have done it twice.
I remember that there was an issue, that they would have to re-frost the window.
They were worried about that, but it wasnt an issue.
It leads me to believe that we got it on the first or second take.
Thats right out of my wheelhouse.
Thats the way I lose it.
I rarely blow, but when I do, it has nothing to do with reality.
It looks like that, ineffectual and kind of silly.
As someone who grew up outside of Chicago, I always related to this.
Those things never worked.
And you break them.
Or somebody took it out of your car.
Wheres the goddamn scraper?!
What was difference in your career pre-Fargoversus post-Fargo?
Was it a demarcation point for you?
Interestingly, you dont get the benefits from it for about a year.
Ive heard this from others too.
It takes about a year.
Everybody says, What about that Macy guy?
But its about a year later.
Absolutely,Fargowas a demarcation point in my career.
I didnt have to audition after that.
I started making money.
I was considered for bigger roles.
I had a short run of it that I did a lot of the big movies.
I got to do some Hollywood blockbuster movies, which was great fun.
I owe them everything.
