‘Fargo’: Jon Hamm & Juno Temple Preview Sexual Politics and Character Dynamics of Year 5
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Snow coats the ground as far as the eye can see on a chilly March morning in Calgary, but it’s a regular work day for the team behind FX‘s Fargo, which films in the Canadian province of Alberta. A perfect stand-in for the anthology’s Midwestern setting, TV Insider was on location for the Year 5 shoot of Noah Hawley‘s Emmy-winning series as it puts Juno Temple at the center of the latest story alongside Jon Hamm and David Rysdahl.
The Ted Lasso actress is trading in her spunky fashion-forward Keeley Jones for Dot Lyon, a Minnesota housewife who attends PTO meetings, reads bedtime stories to her daughter Scotty (Sienna King), and has a bit of a past that is going to stir up some trouble. “You see it through her journey of protecting her family,” Temple told us alongside other reporters on set. “She does not want her family to bear the burden of her past. So she’s going to do everything in her power to protect them without bringing them into it.”
So, what exactly is that past? When Dot gets into trouble with the law at the start of the series, her protective instincts kick in. That’s where Hamm’s Roy Tillman, a North Dakota Sheriff, steps in. You see, Roy’s been looking for Dot for a long time for reasons that will be revealed as the season unfolds. But Dot has a lot to protect with her daughter and her sweetheart of a husband Wayne (Rysdahl), and despite the badge he wears, Roy isn’t a good guy.
(Credit: Michelle Faye/FX)
“She wants to make sure that Wayne is allowed to be her husband and a father and Scotty is allowed to be a [little] girl,” Temple continues. When the pressure to maintain that protection is pushed to the limits, “We see a crack with some of the decisions she makes,” Temple admits. Those choices made to protect her family don’t always “[work] out exactly how she wants them to, but none of it comes from a place of wanting to do any harm to them.”
“It’s all about protection,” she says. “And as the season goes on, we learn why she makes the decisions she does.”
When the season begins, you don’t really know why Roy is in pursuit of Dot, but according to Hamm, “There are these two parallel tracks that are running. You seem to think that they have nothing to do with each other… And as the scope widens out, you realize that they’re not parallel at all, but they’re coming together and they smash together.”
“It takes a minute to get there, but it’s tremendously satisfying when they do,” Hamm teases, noting, “the idea of sexual politics in this [story] are just as difficult to swallow as a lot of the other politics, but they serve their purpose.” Roy Tillman is the Sheriff of a small North Dakota town where he believes he is above the law. He also oversees his local congregation as a preacher and makes it his personal business to check up on his community members by making house calls.
(Credit: Michelle Faye/FX)
He’s the exact opposite of Wayne, a man who is the son of Jennifer Jason Leigh‘s Lorraine Lyon, also known as the “Queen of Debt.” He’s running a dealership out of Minnesota, and fans of the original Fargo may draw parallels between him and William H. Macy‘s character Jerry Lundegaard, but only to a certain point. “On some level, there were those one-to-one [roles],” Hawley says of inspirations between the original film and Year 5’s characters.
“He wants to make his mark on the world,” Rysdahl shares. “He’s his mother’s son, but he also wants this idyllic American life, too.” Within that idyllic life, he envisions Dot, but maintaining the dream is challenging. “It’s like this American fever dream that all of a sudden this perfect housewife has these secrets and these demons,” Rysdahl adds.
Describing Wayne as an “optimist,” Rysdahl admits it’s a tough situation to deal with. In comparison to Lorraine and Dot, Wayne is meek, creating an interesting dynamic between the mother and daughter-in-law. While “they are” very different, Temple notes, she adds, “I also think they’ve got some similarities, too. They’re both very strong women and women who fight for what they want.”
While Temple acknowledges that Dot’s expectations from the relationship are not something Lorraine is willing to meet, she teases, “That’s got to be worked out. I think Lorraine never really thought that Dot was quite good enough for her son. She’s made a lot of money, she’s done very well for herself. And that’s something that also in this world you could get scrutiny for as a woman. And I think she’s experienced a lot of that.”
One observation Temple makes is, “It’s interesting because Wayne is also part of Lorraine, so there is a kindness in her that is there.” It just isn’t as upfront and obvious when the season kicks off. If anything is for sure, Leigh is having a ball as the prim and proper Lorraine, who is powerful in her own respect.
In addition to Temple, Hamm, Rysdahl, Leigh, and King, the series features a stellar ensemble of characters played by Joe Keery, Lamorne Morris, Richa Moorjani, Dave Foley, and Sam Spruell, who aren’t to be missed. Make sure to tune in as they inhabit Hawley’s Fargo universe for Year 5, and stay tuned for more coverage from the set as we approach the premiere.
Fargo, Year 5 Premiere, Tuesday, November 21, 10/9c, FX (next day on Hulu)
