Our first piece of casting for Fargo Season 3 has arrived, and it’s a biggie. Ewan McGregor is making his series regular television debut in the new season of the critically acclaimed FX anthology series, as the Star Wars actor has signed on to anchor the new season. But there’s a twist! Per EW, McGregor is actually playing two characters, a pair of brothers—not twins—who will serve as the centerpiece of Fargo Season 3. The character descriptions are as follows:
“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.”
After the superior second season of Noah Hawley’s TV series adaptation moved the setting to the 1970s, the third season of Fargo will take place in 2010, a couple of years after the events of the show’s first season. I’ll admit I found Season 1 to be a bit derivative and devoid of compelling characters, but Season 2 won me over with its unique storyline and diverse cast. Here’s hoping the show’s third season continues to stray further from the Coen Brothers film’s source material, as the show is better when doing its own thing and not riffing on the filmmakers’ work.
Given the need for a wintry landscape, production on Season 3 won’t begin until later this year, meaning Fargo Season 3 won’t air until 2017. No matter, McGregor is busy at the moment anyway shooting the highly anticipated Trainspotting 2. While Fargo will mark McGregor’s first series regular TV project, he was actually poised to lead the high-profile Noah Baumbach drama series adaptation The Corrections on HBO a few years back, but the pay cable network ended up passing on the pilot. All’s well that ends well, as McGregor is now making his official debut on one of the most critically acclaimed series on television.
Fargo is produced by MGM Television and FX Productions, with MGM Television serving as the lead studio.
