The Big Picture

Playing Roy in Fargo: Year 5 required Jon Hamm to understand the character’s pride in his land, which was easy for him due to his comfort with horses and riding. His character’s nipple rings were showrunner Noah Hawley’s idea and Hamm immediately signed off on them. Hamm believes that his character’s willingness to be naked around strangers and wear eccentric attire signifies his power and comfort with himself.

The latest installment of the series Fargo: Year 5 is set in Minnesota and North Dakota in 2019 and follows Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (Juno Temple) as she finds herself in a bit of trouble involving her past. Being on the radar of North Dakota Sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm), someone she very much does not want back in her life, has turned Dot’s simple Midwestern existence upside down, leading her to want to fight for her family by any means necessary. On the other hand, Roy has been in search of Dot for some time and is determined to make sure she sees things his way.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Hamm talked about Roy’s nipple rings, playing a character who is beholden to no one, riding a horse named Larry, never becoming a mustache-twirling villain, the unusual dynamic between two characters who don’t actually get to spend much time on screen together, and how power is to be respected.

Fargo Various chronicles of deception, intrigue, and murder in and around frozen Minnesota. All of these tales mysteriously lead back one way or another to Fargo, North Dakota. Release Date April 15, 2014 Main Genre Crime Rating TV-MA Seasons 5 Studio FX

Jon Hamm’s ‘Fargo’ Character Enjoys the Comforts of Life
Image via FX

Collider: I feel like we should start with the most important question first, so whose idea were the nipple rings?

JON HAMM: That is all Noah Hawley. That was baked into the script and I signed off on it immediately.

Did you get any say in picking the nipple rings, or did you just leave all that up to Noah Hawley?

HAMM: There must have been a meeting or two, but I think we were all on the same page pretty quickly. But I will say the experience of having one’s nipples covered in a gooey latex and a prosthetic applied is really one for the books.

What do you think it says about who this guy is? He’s someone who is willing to be naked around strangers, wear a towel with his face on it, and have nipple rings. What does all that say about him?

HAMM: He says in the scene that he enjoys the comforts of life, he enjoys what makes him happy, and he is beholden to no one on this earth, really, to explain that to anybody. It’s a very powerful position to be in, in that world of being comfortable with yourself, and he is very comfortable lording that power over others.

Jon Hamm Bonded With His ‘Fargo’ Horse

When I spoke to executive producer Warren Littlefield about this season, he said that you really built your way into this character before you got to Calgary and that you went horse riding in Griffith Park. How did the horse riding help you with understanding who this guy is?

HAMM: I’m very comfortable on horses. I had ridden horses before. It was nice to actually have that be something that’s comfortable and not foreign. People that grow up around horses and on farms and ranches have a very different relationship to livestock and animals and the land. It’s very helpful to inform the character. His land is something that Roy takes a lot of pride in. Metaphorically and literally, that’s something that very much informs his day-to-day existence. And so, it was very easy to slide into that once the jacket goes on and the belt buckle and the hat and the boots. It was all very nice. My horse’s name was Larry, which was also very cool. I thought his last name was David. That wasn’t confirmed to me. But I did tell Larry David that my horse’s name was Larry and he was very pleased about that.

Which would you say is more important, finding the right cowboy hat for a character or finding a horse that you can properly bond with and that you don’t feel like is going to just toss you aside?

HAMM: Probably the horse. The hat won’t step on you or throw you off or break your neck. If a hat falls off, you can get a new hat. If a horse throws you off, you’re in deep trouble.

Jon Hamm Didn’t Want His ‘Fargo’ Character to Be A Mustache-Twirling Villain
Image via FX

You’ve played a lot of great characters, and this is a character that you really own and embrace, but he’s also a bit of a scary guy. Was there a moment when you felt everything click with who this guy is? Does it come in a scene? Does it happen when you put the wardrobe on?

HAMM: It’s a strange alchemy. You don’t wanna make it only about all the exterior things. You wanna find some interior motivation for him, and that took a minute. All the accoutrements really help. Being in Calgary, you’re very much surrounded by the land and the prairie, and livestock and horses, and people where that is their livelihood and existence. And then, all the other stuff really helps find that interior thing that makes Roy a three-dimensional character and not some sort of caricature. The last thing we really wanted was for him to be some sort of mustache-twirling bad guy that only had a note. That was Noah’s challenge as well, in the writing, along with the rest of the writing staff. But I think they had a pretty good handle on it, and I was able to pick up what they were putting down. I think we did a pretty passable job of it. It’s a very unsettling character that we see, as the story goes on.

The relationship between Roy and Dot is driving so much of this season, and we really see insight into what he’s capable of. How did Juno Temple most surprise you with what she brought to the character and to that dynamic?

HAMM: I don’t think I’ve really seen this kind of dynamic before, but because the two main characters of the season of television are on parallel tracks for the majority of the season, they don’t really interact. All their interaction is referred to in the past and is talked about by both sides, but you don’t really see it until the trains crash into each other, which comes much later in the season. Juno’s work is spectacular. It’s a great part for her and she’s wonderful in the show. But I thought it was a very cool choice of everybody to keep these two forces of nature separate until they do come together and the explosion happens.

In comparison, what does Roy think of someone who gets their power from the amount of wealth that someone like Lorraine has?

HAMM: He’s dubious of it, but also understands that while he might not agree with how that power was accrued, the accrual of power is something to be respected. He’s very aware that she is a worthy foe. There are some very nice scenes together, that Jennifer Jason [Leigh] and I had. It’s a satisfying resolution, when those two come together.

Fargo: Year 5 airs on FX and is available to stream at Hulu.

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