So, you’re watching Fargo. Maybe for the first time, or maybe you’re on your tenth rewatch because there is just something about the way William H. Macy says "Prowler" that feels like a spiritual experience. It’s 1996. The Coen Brothers have just dropped a "true story" that isn't actually true on a public that didn't know they were being pranked.
And the acting? It’s weird. It’s jagged. It’s kind of perfect.
But here is the thing: what we remember about the actor in Fargo movie history usually boils down to a few memes and a woodchipper. We miss the actual desperation that went into getting these roles and the bizarre, scripted precision behind every "Yah, you betcha."
William H. Macy basically bullied his way into the role
Most people think Macy was the first choice for Jerry Lundegaard. He wasn't. Honestly, the Coens weren't even looking at him for the lead. Originally, Macy auditioned for a tiny role—a state trooper. But after reading the script, he realized Jerry was the role of a lifetime. He flew to New York, literally crashed their production office, and told them they were going to screw up the whole movie if they didn't hire him.
He joked that he’d shoot their dogs if he didn't get the part. It worked.
What’s wild is how much we assume Macy was improvising those stutters. He wasn't. Every single "um," "uh," and awkward pause was written into the script. The Coens are meticulous like that. You see Jerry Lundegaard sweating through his cheap suit, and you think, this guy is a mess. But the performance is a clockwork machine. Macy plays Jerry with this "implosion of fear," as Roger Ebert put it. He’s a guy who thinks he’s a slick car salesman but is actually just a dogshit liar.
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Frances McDormand didn't even show up for 33 minutes
Think about that. The main actor in Fargo movie discussions, the moral heart of the story, Marge Gunderson, doesn't appear until more than a third of the film is over.
Frances McDormand won an Oscar for this. She did it by being "Minnesota nice" while investigating a triple homicide.
She wasn't just playing a "pregnant cop" for the gimmick. She actually spent time with a pregnant officer in St. Paul to get the gait right. Her "baby bump" was filled with birdseed to give it the actual weight of a fetus so her posture would change naturally. There’s a famous story from the set where she left the prosthetic suit in her trailer overnight. It got so cold in the Minnesota winter that the silicone breasts froze and one of them literally popped the next morning.
Marge is the ultimate foil to Jerry. While Jerry is a fake person trying to be "big," Marge is a real person who is perfectly happy being "small." She eats Arby's. she loves her husband, Norm (played by John Carroll Lynch), who is just excited about his 3-cent stamp design. It’s that domesticity that makes the violence so jarring.
The weird chemistry of the "Funny-Looking" Thugs
Then you have the criminals. Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare.
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The Coens wrote the part of Carl Showalter specifically for Buscemi. He’s the "funny-looking" one. He has over 150 lines of dialogue. Meanwhile, Stormare’s Gaear Grimsrud has exactly 16 lines.
- Steve Buscemi (Carl): Constant chatter, high-pitched anxiety, eventually ends up as mulch.
- Peter Stormare (Gaear): Silent, sociopathic, eats pancakes in total silence.
They didn't hang out off-camera. They deliberately avoided bonding to keep that "I might kill you at any moment" tension alive. Stormare’s performance is terrifying because it’s so blank. When he’s shoving Carl’s leg into that woodchipper—which, by the way, was a prosthetic leg, though Stormare had to use a piece of firewood to shove it down because he didn't want to put his hand near the blades—he looks like he’s just doing chores.
The Mike Yanagita Digression
We have to talk about Steve Park. He plays Mike Yanagita.
For years, fans have argued about why this scene is in the movie. Marge meets an old classmate, he cries, he makes a pass at her, and it's incredibly awkward. It feels like it belongs in a different movie.
But it’s the turning point.
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When Marge later finds out Mike lied about everything—his wife, his life—she realizes that "nice" people can be total frauds. That is what sends her back to interview Jerry a second time. Without the "funny" Mike Yanagita scene, Jerry might have actually gotten away with it.
Why it still hits in 2026
Looking back, the actor in Fargo movie ensemble succeeded because they didn't play "types." They played specific, weirdly human people.
Jerry isn't a mastermind; he's a guy who can't even get the serial numbers right for a GMAC loan. Marge isn't a super-cop; she's a woman who knows her job and wants to go home to her husband.
If you want to understand the craft here, don't just watch the big scenes. Watch the way Macy scrapes the ice off his windshield in a fit of impotent rage. Watch the way McDormand looks at the dead body of the state trooper—she’s sad, sure, but she’s also hungry and thinking about breakfast. That is the realism that won the Oscars.
Next Steps for Your Rewatch:
Pay attention to the background actors. Many were locals from the Minnesota/North Dakota area. Notice how none of them act like they are in a "crime drama." They act like they are in a very cold, very long Tuesday. Look for Bruce Campbell’s uncredited cameo on a TV screen—it’s a classic Coen Easter egg. Most importantly, track Jerry’s desk. As his life falls apart, notice how the blinds behind him start to look more and more like prison bars.