When FXÂ announced that Ewan McGregor would not only be joining Fargo in a leading role for its third season, but that he would be playing two parts, brothers Ray and Emmit Stussy, we had to double check that we hadn’t conjured up the casting news during a fever dream. One of our favorite actors on one of our favorite shows, and he’s going to play two roles? This was the kind of fantasy casting we could only hope for, and it was really going to happen.
Of course, never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that McGregor would look quite like this.
In the first teaser from FX featuring any of the cast (that we first came across at Vulture), the almost impossible to recognize McGregor can be seen in his role as Ray Stussy, the overweight, past (never had?) his prime parole officer that is jealous of his successful, handsome older brother Emmit, “the Parking Lot King of Minnesota.” He’s eating in a diner with Nikki Swango, played by another one of our favorites, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, a “crafty and alluring recent parolee with a passion for competitive bridge playing.” (I’m not familiar with the world of competitive bridge playing, but I’m going to bet not all of them look like Ms. Swango.)
Based on the appearance of each, we’re going to say old Ray is playing just a little over his balding head, so the reasons for the two being together might not be above water. Or rather, since this is Fargo, above snow.
Those suspicions seem founded when the two quickly and quietly get up and leave the diner after officer Gloria Burgle (played by the terrific Carrie Coon of The Leftovers–seriously, we love this cast) walks in. Despite a wary initial reaction from Ray, the two are cool, calm, and collected as they leave. However, the police officer can’t help but notice the strangeness of their immediate departure.
Just like we can’t help but notice that the neon diner sign outside keeps blinking out the word “die.”
And as anyone that watched season two can tell you, it’s remarkable how easily a late night diner can turn into a bloodbath in this universe. Of course, so can a basement, a butcher shop, a home, and you know what now that we think about it lots of places on Fargo end up as bloodbaths. It’s kind of a violent place. Polite, but violent.
Based on Ray’s character description, we were fairly certain he was going to be heavily involved in the major crime story of the show, but after seeing this we’re positive he will be involved in the nefarious activities that drive the plot, which always involve regular but envious, unhappy people getting caught up in something very bad and very deadly.
This very brief teaser is the best peek we have so far from FX about what’s to come. The two previous teasers only hinted at the time of year some of the story will take place, with a giant inflatable Santa Claus decoration losing its air, and an air conditioner running in the dead of winter. Sort of like (a former) someone really needs to be kept cool.
After two stellar seasons from Fargo, we know the show is going to offer superb writing, a stellar cast, lots of action and entertainment, great, meaningful themes, and tons of murder and mayhem. What we didn’t know until today is that we were going to get the worst looking version of Ewan McGregor we’ve ever seen.
We can’t wait.
Fargo season three premieres on FX on April 19, 2017.
What do you make of this teaser? Did we miss anything that might lend us some clues about the upcoming season? Okay, why dontcha pop in to the comments section below right here and tell us all about what you think please and thank you.
Images: FX
