I’m Noah Hawley, creator and showrunner of FX’s Fargo and Legion, and author of the new novel Before the Fall – Ask Me Anything

What other show on tv would you like to run for a season, on the condition that the showrunner from that program would get to do a year of Fargo?

I'd love to take a crack at Peaky Blinders. I'm a big fan of slow motion walking to songs by the Pogues (plus it's a great cast and a very fun show)

Hey Noah, big Fargo fan here! Also, born and raised in Minnesota so hearing the accents is hilarious.

One of the things I love about the show is that the cast can do those hokey accents and remain incredibly serious and in the moment. Is that something you find difficult to maintain the tone of the show whilst having the actors take on this persona?

Also, anything you can tell us about Season 3? Particularly Ewan McGregor's dual role?

The accents are always a balancing act. We never want to devolve into parody. We have a dialect coach on set all the time to help out.

As a Canadian, I have to say - your use of winter in the action was amazing. I can't believe my country's filmmakers left so much on the table after all these years. That blizzard shootout from S1 in particular was brilliant. Did you look to a lot of winter films for inspiration? Which ones?

I have to thank of VFX wizard John Ross for most of the blizzard sequences. Though we had snow on the ground, the skies when we filmed them were mostly clear -- sometimes even sunny. John was able to create a blizzard where none existed. In fact, there are shots of Mr. Numbers searching for Malvo that are literally all filmed on the same spot, just using different takes, and we rotoed him out and placed him in the blizzard.

Hawley here. Thanks for writing. I'll be as honest as I can.

Many of your books revolve around the repercussions of public disasters, including plane crashes and a presidential candidate murder.

Is this trend a conscious thing? Why are you interested in these themes? And did it bear any influence on the protagonist of Before The Fall, who paints calamities?

Also, a question that popped up on /r/FargoTV (do visit sir): is Mr. Rundle an independent crime entrepreneur or a Fargo syindicate middle manager?

Mr. Rundle is an independent contractor, a middle man.

As to public disasters, I guess it's not a conscious choice, but I'm attracted to taking stories of a certain scale and then humanizing them, taking what would normally be a plot-driven story and turning it into something character and theme driven.

What's the latest on Cat’s Cradle?

I'm writing a script. In my mind it's a min-series, 6-8 episodes.

Why did you decide to put the UFO/fish falling from the sky stuff in the show? In my personal opinion, i love the show, but felt like those 2 things just felt so out of place and did not really add to the story.

As they say in A Serious Man, accept the mystery. This is a big part thematic part of the Coen universe, elements that don't fit neatly into the story they're telling. It's why you have the UFO in The Man who wasn't there, and even explains the Mike Yanagita story from Fargo, the movie. Real life doesn't unfold like a movie is filled with random and seemingly meaningless events. Our brains try to create a narrative out of things that don't add up. Ultimately though, we just have to accept the mystery.

Hey Noah, do you ever think we could get a full release of all the songs used throughout Season 2? Sadly the songs from Fargo Year 2 soundtrack doesn't contain some of the best stuff like the Run Through the Jungle cover at the end of The Castle. The music throughout the season was absolutely breathtaking by the way amazing job to you and your team.

the omissions weren't my choice. It's a question of royalty rates, etc. I'd love to have all the music out there, but it's not my music to share.

It doesn't seem like anyone reviewing the show made note that The Myth of Sisyphus isn't an essay just about absurd struggles, but that it challenges its reader to create fiction. Where in the process of creating Fargo did you decide to use that essay as a continuing point of reference?

I came across the Camus early on in the formulating process. The dark philosophy of the absurd seemed to play well into both the Coen Brothers world and also into the times, as the seventies was an era of both violent and creative radicalism, where people like Abby Hoffman weren't afraid to poke a little fun with their rebellion.

Hey Noah! I'm a huge fan of Fargo and I greatly admire you as a writer. I was very excited to find out that you will be handling the television adaption of Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (my all time favorite author). My question to you is, is Cat's Cradle going to be a straight 1:1 adaption of the book? Or will it be more along the lines of Fargo where it will pay homage to other Kurt Vonnegut stories while weaving it's own? I am very excited to see what you do with this adaption and all the projects you have coming up!

The answer is, I don't know yet. It is an adaptation of the book, but the book leaves a lot of details unexplored. So most likely it would be an expansion, where, like the Supreme Court, I must decipher the original intent of the author and extrapolate what is a Vonnegut moment and what isn't.

Congratulations on Fargo, best show ever on television. It could have been sunk before it even started, a second attempt at a tv show based on one of the most iconic films of all time. What did you do consciously to try and make sure that legacy wasn't an albatross that ruined the show?

What made it work was that I didn't try to remake the movie. I was tasked with creating a story with a similar feel and point of view, but wasn't a carbon copy. This allowed me to bring my own eye to the work. Believe me, nobody felt the pressure more than me.

When the Coen Brothers answer any interview questions about ambiguity and deeper meanings in their films, they're worse than ambiguous, they don't exactly derail the question but answer at the most physical and technical level, shaking off meaning questions entirely despite that their movies are overwhelmed with references to deeper philosophical, psychological, and literary ideas. -- In a way this is also the magic of their movies, the audience is usually made pretty definitely aware of the physical details of what's happening, but as for the tormenting wash of philosophical/psychological loose ends there are no solid answers, besides the solid details as they appear and provoke.

My question for you is: in reverse engineering the Coen filmography to try to find your own Coen-formula, to what extent do you try to emulate their particular style of ambiguity and at what point do you feel that all the alluded elements of your own story begin to benefit from their ambiguous premiers and placements?

Are the Coens tricksters, are you a trickster, how do you emulate or own their style of trickery?

That is a big question. The only way this could work, was if we had a shared sensibility. My job is to imbue the work with meaning, not to explain what it means. That said, I'm clearly more talkative than they are.

​I loved Martin Freeman as Lester because I think it was a big departure from his previous roles. What do you think about the way he approached the text and portrayed the character? Also, can you share any cool behind-the-scenes stories with us? Thanks, Noah!

Martin was truly inspiring. It's rare that actors get to go on such a transformative journey and he really nailed all aspects, from meek Lester, to diabolical Lester. He told me that he didn't realize who tightly he was holding himself as Lester in the first 7 hours until he became Lester the winner and got his swagger on.

Hey Noah, I know each season is a standalone as far as plot, with connections to other seasons and to the movie. Do you have an ultimate plan for all of the seasons? And a follow up, do you already have a set number of seasons planned, or are you basing it off of how well the show is doing.

Keep up the amazing work! Easily the best show on television!

I take it one year at a time. I have a sense that there is a larger universe, but I haven't mapped it out.

What's your process for casting Fargo? The casts are so big, it must take forever? How is it to lose out on a great choice due to the scheduling?

We start by making offers to bigger name actors, then hold casting sessions, with tapes coming in from around the world.

What would your advice be to a nobody with little means who lives nowhere near L.A., but has a bunch of great ideas for film/tv?

First of all, stop calling yourself a nobody. I don't live in LA either. It's never been easier to write or film something on your own and get it in front of people. When I was starting out you still needed a self addressed stamped envelope.

Okay. Thanks everybody for all the questions. Sorry I couldn't answer them all. Maybe we'll meet again someday. If you're interested, check out my new novel, Before the Fall at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0151YQUTE/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 or at your favorite bookstore. Peace.

Do you think John Lithgow would work in the Fargo universe? Any dream actors you would cast?

I like John Lithgow. Too many other great names to list.

In terms of your successful Coen approximation, how did you feel about your Season 2 UFO reveal after seeing 'Hail Caesar!'s submarine scene? It's almost like you studied the Coens and out-Coened the Coens.

Season three, submarine! though how we'll sail it to Minnesota, I don't know.

I can't wait for Legion. Was it a story that got onto your hands or did you personally choose it? Can you tell us a little bit about it?

I chose the character to focus on. I wanted to create a subjective world based around a character who has a hard time knowing what's real. In this way the structure of the story could reflect the content. I also wanted to take a swing at an epic love story. So there's that.

Do native Minnesotans ever complain to you that the characters in Fargo have exaggerated Minnesota accents?

I ask because my wife, a native Minnesotan, complains about it. I moved to Minnesota from New York, and I think the characters' accents are completely accurate.

We try to underplay the accents actually, but the show is written in a certain vernacular and the accents are a part of the world as created by the Coens. It's never my intention to make fun of anybody. It's just a detail of the world.

How do you build characters and tension that will last the run of a series?

Tension is a product of time, adding up the pieces one by one. it's about telling the story with the camera and staying focused. Characters can move in and out of stories very economically as long as they're clearly drawn.

Why did you choose Calgary as the main shooting location for season 2?

It's geographically very similar to Minnesota/North Dakota, had good crews and snow and gave us a good tax incentive. I'd love to shoot in Minnesota though.

Was Hanzee challenging to cast? There aren't a lot of tough middle aged Native American actors out there. A lot of older ones, and a great bunch of young ones.

As we broke the Hanzee story I assumed it would be a long casting process, but the truth is, we saw Zahn on the first day. This reminded me to never underestimate the talent pool that's out there. If you write the role, have faith that there is an actor who can play it.

Any plans to include elements from Inside Llewyn Davis into future Fargo episodes? It's my favorite Coen Brothers movie.

Congratulations on writing the best show on television!

If you see a man who is also a cat, you will now you've been heard.

You are a prolific writer. How does that work? Do you have a disciplined routine? Do you think you could/would ever handle an anthology series like another prolific talent, Rod Serling?

The weekly anthology is another degree of difficulty. It's hard enough to tell a good story in 10 hours.

The weekly anthology is another degree of difficulty. It's hard enough to tell a story in 10 hours.

Hi Noah! I wonder if you worked on Fargo in such a way, that you just started writing and would eventually see what would happen, or was it more like a planned storyboard with characters and events you've already had planned for the script?

We plan it all very meticulously. The trick is to create enough moving pieces on a collision course that the ones that collide (and when they collide) are hard to predict with real certainty. To make something "accidental" actually takes real planning.

Was Martin Freeman who you originally envisioned as Lester Nygaard in Season 1?

If not, who did you have in mind for that role?

Who could it ever be, but Martin Freeman?

Hey Noah, do you think there's any more information on Fargo Year 3 you could possibly give to us?

Be patient. it's coming.

Hi Noah, thanks for the AMA!

Have the Coen's contacted you about the show’s season 2, have they seen it? What do they think about it? I’m a BIG fan of the Coen brothers and just desperately want them to watch your show so they see how good it is so you can make a tv show inspired on “A serious man” next.... Yes. I have it all planned out.

Much love from Mexico.

I saw Joel and Ethan in New York recently. They don't really volunteer how much of the show they've seen and I don't ask. Instead we usually eat some kind of breakfast food and free associate our way through a conversation.

What is the most aesthetically pleasing movie?

It's hard to narrow it down. Two movies I've loved the look of recently are The Great Beauty and Tree of Life.

What is your writing process? Do you have an idea, a theme, and then just start from there? Or do you establish characters and motives first?

I usually start with a question. Sometimes a character comes to mind. Fargo invariably begins with a setup, like a joke -- two men walk into an emergency room, a woman drives home with a man sticking out of her windshield. The setup leads to questions. Who are the men in the emergency room, the man in the windshield, and then I go from there.

Hey Noah, biggest Fargo fan!
I read online that Malvo is supposed to be written as the Devil. Is he supposed to be a supernatural character or just a scary persona?

Also, any more you can tell us about season three?

Thank you!!

I never thought of Malvo as the devil. That said there are certain elemental characters you see in the Coens movies -- Anton Chigur, the Lone Biker of the Apocalypse, Peter Stormare from Fargo -- who seem to be something other than human. Malvo was written with the same intent. He is a product of the wilderness, blowing from state to state. How old he is is hard to say with real certainty.

Any TV dramas from before the Sopranos led Renaissance that could stand up against the series' since?

There are some great shows. West Wing, X-Files, Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, etc.

Do you think video games could ever be used to tell more narrative and character based stories?

I'm not sure. I don't play a lot of games. In general it's about finding the right balance of character and action. It's also hard to distill hundreds of hours of game play into a two hour movie.

Thanks for doing this AMA! Just wondering, will Mr Wrench be making an appearance in Fargo again? He was so cool :)

He was cool. I'll see what I can do.

My buddy has a theory that, since Fargo had a UFO component, you took inspiration from the film Room 237 (a movie about people who have insane theories about The Shining) for tinfoil-y places to hide clues.

So my question is, when you did all this stuff involving palindromes and Native American conspiracies and UFOs, did you think you were going to make just ONE person go insane?

I enjoyed Room 237, but wasn't thinking of it as I created this story. All the elements you describe were coming to a head in 1979 and the trick was to build a crime story around them, rather than just peppering a disconnected crime story with period detail.

Is it hard for you to let go of the characters you've created when you end a book or a show? As a fan I always end up wanting more (even when the ending is perfect) so I've always wondered if you do as an author.

There's always a period of mourning. It comes in phases -- at the end of production, at the end of the editing when the final hour is locked, and then at the end of the launch when you see all the actors again. But I've gotten used to the rhythm of it, to making something and moving on. It really teaches you to put everything you have into a project, knowing it will soon end.

Hey, Noah. I am an inspiring scriptwriter. Mostly dark comedies and satirical looks at the darkness of the world. I sometimes like to write spec scripts of TV shows with dark twists, but keep the humor and everything else the same. For fun I write dark sketches with friends and I will be shooting them shortly. My question is, how can I make it from such small time with friends to working on television? Thanks, love the show.

You have to be good enough to get in the room. You have to be good in the room. And you have to deliver when you leave the room. In other words, talent gets you in the game and you have to make an impression and then deliver what you promised. Other than that it takes perseverance and a little luck.

I am such a huge fan of your work. You are just as talented behind the camera as you are with a pen, and I must thank you for blessing this world with your masterpieces.

You have quite a number of projects currently in development, with everything from Legion, to Fargo Year Three, to your own novels. It's honestly mind-boggling to think how one man could balance so many huge projects at once. So my question to you is, how the hell do you do it?

Oh, and I have one more tiny question: Was it always your plan to have Hanzee turn out to be Mr. Tripoli from Year One? It's been bugging me for six months now, and I'd like to have some clarification from the Fargo man himself. Thank you!

There was a moment in the room (maybe halfway through) where I realized that Hanzee could grow up to be Mr. Tripoli. Than I had to weight whether this development was believable, interesting, etc. Ultimately, it was a detail I knew most of the audience would miss, but one that would create a nice hair raising moment for people who got it.

Is there anything in particular about 'classic' 50s and 60s American drama TV shows that directly influences how you think about writing TV drama?

Someone mentioned Rod Serling. I think what's exciting about that era was the feeling of discovery. They were literally inventing television as we watched. I'd like to think we're continuing that tradition.

Hey Noah! I've been a big fan since day one of Fargo and loved every minute of it. Fargo is one of my all time favorite shows and has been a big inspiration for me. Any tips for an aspiring writer? Also, in the first episode of Season 2, why did Judge Mundt drive so far to eat a hamburger?

She was on her way to Sioux Falls to visit her nephew in the "crippled children's hospital," as Skip Sprang described it.

Hey there! Have to say, I love your shows. Fargo has been amazing, and I can't wait for season 3.

However, it's actually The Unusuals I wanted to ask about. I loved that show so much - it was so fresh and interesting, and a unique take on the cop procedural. But I was wondering - can you give any information on where the storylines were going to go? We only got 10 Episodes, but there was obviously so much story there to tell, it's such a shame that we're never going to get to know what happened to the crew.

Thanks!

It was a long time ago. I don't think I had a master plan going forward, except to continue to work with that amazing cast. And also, at some point, to see a Matchbox car lodged inside Delahoy's head on an x-ray.

I follow you on Twitter and you're great at your job.

What's the worst or funniest thing you've bought online while drunk?

I've got nothing. Sorry.

Huge fan of Fargo, will be starting Before the Fall later this week and can't wait.

Are there any additional castings for Fargo season 3 that you could announce? If not, when can we expect some more news? Going along with this, who are some of your dream actors/actresses for the show?

We're hoping to have more casting news soon. Announcements will most likely be made throughout the summer. Some very fun roles.

Ever get your shoes shined at the Blue Moon in Austin?

I don't wear those kinds of shoes here

Will fargo season 3 have any, even a small connection with the past seasons? Hamburger helper when things are going awry?

Who doesn't love helping a hamburger? There will be connections -- some big, some small. All I can say for now.

Who is your favorite character to write on Fargo?

There are too many to name.

What's the last great book you've read?

There was an oral history of Terrence Malik I thought was great.

I can't wait for season 3 and absolutely love the casting of Ewan McGregor!

My question for you is if you agree with what Louis CK said about McGregor

I don't know what he said.

Big fan of your books and Fargo. What tips would you have for an emerging writer to get in touch with an agent?

Also, I got to see you speak at AXS TV festival in '13- it was a highlight! I appreciate how open you are with the public and how honest you were about the fear of living up to the movie, etc. Thank you!

Agents need you as much as you need them. That's the secret. You can always phone an agency and ask where to send blind submissions. There is someone there reading the slush pile. Also helpful are managers and entertainment attorneys.

If you were to do any other Coen Brothers film to adapt to television, what would it be?

Llewyn David as a never ending loop.

Who is your favourite character to write from each season?

I love all my children equally.

Please keep finding excellent character actors like Molly and hanzee. Don't want it overflowing with Hollywood people. I really love this show quite a bit.

Can you tell us about the process you go through to cast Fargo?

I share your point of view, which is why I'm just as happy to discover an actor, as I am to cast a name.