The fifth season of Fargo premiered late last year to great fanfare. It is considered one of the best seasons of the black comedy anthology series. It has been nominated for 15 Emmys, including Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
Rachel Tenner is an award-winning casting director with dozens of credits in some of the best movies and TV has to offer. Best known for Fargo S1-5, Griselda, The Boys in the Boat, Severance, A Serious Man, and many others. Tenner recently chatted with Immersive via Zoom.
[This conversation has been edited for clarity and length]
First, let’s talk about Fargo season one. What was that like at the beginning, at the genesis of this show?
I think the challenge for season one was trying to convince people that we weren’t imitating the original movie or doing any kind of detriment to it and its legacy. I think actors were sensitive about feeling like they were stepping into roles that were so established beautifully in the film and didn’t want to tread there. I think once people read the scripts and realized that it was its own thing, it was a much easier process.
I interviewed the production designer recently, he referred to the seasons as films. They are their own movies and in this case, as casting director, working on an anthology, you’re recasting pretty much the entire thing every time. What’s that like?
It’s super exciting every season to get the scripts and see where it’s going to take place, what year it’s going to be, who are the new characters this season and what’s the storyline. The process is very engaging and creative every season, and I think people are attracted to the show as actors. Noah Hawley’s writing is amazing. I think the casting process to me feels very celebratory. It’s very positive and fun.
You have a little bit of a history with the Coen Brothers, please tell us about that.
I worked for Ellen Chenoweth on the Coen Brothers films for a long time. I might have done eight movies. Then Ellen and I shared A Serious Man, but it’s of course incredibly informative when doing this show because it’s a tone and a point of view that I’ve known and been a part of for a long time and feel again.
I think Joel and Ethan and Ellen’s process around all of it is so fun when it comes to casting because not only do they love people who are interesting looking or have an interesting way of acting or personality traits or anything, they love it, and it always makes the process very fun.
I’m obsessed with character actors. I love the fact that in Blood Simple, the Coen’s debut, the two leads are Dan Hedaya and M. Emmett Walsh, who are two character actors. I think that kind of says it all.
They just have never been part of the same system that everyone else seems to have been a part of. They grew up with the movies they loved, and I think when they went and did their own stuff, they were able to actualize it in the way they wanted to. Blood Simple was independently financed, so there’s no one the answer to, and they’ve just really been able to stay true to themselves the whole time.
I think their love of character actors, watching people excel in their movies, and getting into their tone very much helped segue into doing the series for Fargo because of Noah and Warren and FX and MGM. I think feels that same feeling and has that vibe and same viewpoint on the series and the content and how they want to achieve it.
Talk a little bit about getting in contact with these actors and starting the casting process.
The process is pretty simple. You read the scripts, you break down the characters and you’ll start making your list. I write down anybody that remotely strikes me in any way, I’ll list them and then once I’m kind of done and feel like I’ve fully done it, then I go back and start curating, and then by the time I’m ready to talk to Noah and start going over names, I’ll have a point of view about who I think would lend themselves to this. Here are some other ideas. This is why I like them. I feel strongly about these people. It’s like that kind of process.
Juno Temple is pretty amazing.
Juno Temple specifically is somebody I’ve known for a long time besides Ted Lasso. She’s had a long film career. I’ve always loved her. She comes into every movie with such a specific point of view and is always so different. I always think the depth of what she does is pretty amazing. I know that she’s got a great depth and can do anything. I’m thrilled that it came to fruition, and her performance I think is amazing.
Is there anyone in the current season that you’d like to highlight?
I loved everybody this season. I mean, a lot of people we obviously know already, but I loved seeing Dave Foley personally. I thought Joe Keery was so great. David Rysdahl is one of my favorites as the husband. I just think he actualized what was on the page when you read it. Who else I think was amazing? Lamorne Morris was great, and Sam Spruell as Ole Munch was a highlight.
Is there anything that you could tell us, what do you think the average person does not know about a casting director?
I think people don’t know how much work goes into casting. There is an enormous process behind it that in some ways not even doing lists, it’s the thought process, and then casting the other roles, you have seen thousands of people. You’ve watched people from all over the world do this, like Sam Spruell who got Ole Munch. That was a whole international search, so we saw hundreds and hundreds of these really interesting actors from every country and then landed on Sam.
Please reflect on the current season of Fargo, it was very well received and is now nominated for several Emmys…
I love this current season. I think the story and the message are great, and I thought the performances were excellent. I just thought everybody kind of what we’re talking about, every department, every person was functioning at such a high level this season. Fargo is one of those shows that just always makes me feel proud of the work that I’ve brought to it to see it actualized. I am so grateful for this series.
Fargo Season 5 is now available to stream.
