Deadwood star Timothy Olyphant has joined the cast of Fargo season 4 in a key role. Released in 1996, the Coen Brothers’ movie Fargo, about various small town Minnesota characters getting caught up in a hapless murder-and-kidnap scheme, became one of the filmmaking duo’s most beloved and iconic movies, nabbing 7 Oscar nominations and winning for Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and Best Original Screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen).
With its unique combination of quirky characters, bleak Minnesota setting and typically dry, ironic Coen Brothers humor, Fargo proved a huge influence on writer-director-producer Noah Hawley, who in 2014 debuted the first season of Fargo the TV series on FX. Not a direct sequel to the movie, the show instead drew stylistic and thematic inspiration from the film and other Coen Brothers works, and went on to be critically acclaimed itself, snaring 18 Emmy nominations. Seasons 2 and 3 also garnered critical acclaim while exploring different time frames and characters (but still with that same Coens-inspired spirit), leading FX to renew the show for a fourth season. Chris Rock is set to head up the season 4 cast along with Jessie Buckley, Uzo Abuda, Ben Whishaw, Jack Huston, Amber Midthunder and Jason Schwartzman.
As reported by Deadline, that already impressive cast has now added one more star in Timothy Olyphant, who is set to play a character with the very Fargo-esque name Dick “Deafy” Wickware. Further details of Olyphant’s role are not available but it’s said to be a major recurring character.
Seen this summer in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Olyphant is also a veteran TV star who played the iconic role of lawman Seth Bullock in HBO’s Deadwood, a role he would reprise in this year’s Deadwood: The Movie, as well as lawman Raylan Givens on FX’s drama series Justified. More recently, Olyphant starred alongside Drew Barrymore on the now-canceled Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet. In keeping with the series’ history, Fargo season 4 will feature entirely new characters, and this time will go back in time to 1950s Kansas City for a story revolving around rival black and Italian crime families who achieve an uneasy peace by swapping sons.
Given the generally high quality of past Fargo seasons, there’s definite reason to be excited about Hawley’s latest foray into the violent and at times blackly humorous universe he’s created via inspiration from the Coen Brothers and their own uniquely blood-soaked, darkly comic oeuvre. The prior 3 seasons of the show have all featured strong casts, and season 4 definitely continues that tradition, with Olyphant adding even more talent to an ensemble that was already very impressive indeed.
More: 10 Hidden Details You May Have Missed In The Fargo TV Show
Fargo season 4 premieres in 2020 on FX.
Source: Deadline
