The Fargo television series was able to put together one of the most well-stacked casts in television for their first season, and it seems they have been able to do it again. The Fargo Season 2 cast features everyone from award-winning Hollywood stars to television legends and cult favorites. With a cast of this size and pedigree, however, it would be statistically difficult to assemble actors who haven't worked together before. Some research reveals that there are some very interesting connections that tie many of the stars together, including off-kilter indie comedies, music videos, and one of the most successful cable television shows of all time. So where have the Fargo Season 2 actors worked together before?
Many of the actors on Fargo have each had long tenures on television series of their own, meaning they have come in contact with hundreds of actors in their time on television. Jesse Plemons spent time on Friday Night Lights and Breaking Bad, Ted Danson was on all eleven seasons of Cheers, Brad Garrett spent nine seasons on Everybody Loves Raymond, and Jean Smart was on six seasons of Designing Women. Despite these long tenures of televised careers, for many of the actors on Fargo it is their first time working together. Many of them may not even work together on Fargo, considering the show has such a wide scope.
These actors, however, have already worked together once before, so if they meet on Fargo it'll be a nice reunion.
Kirsten Dunst & Ted Danson - "Make Some Noise"
Ted Danson and Kirsten Dunst will likely be playing hunter and hunted against each other on Fargo for as long as Dunst has a body in her garage, but in the music video for Beastie Boys' "Make Some Noise," adapted from the star-studded short film Fight For Your Right (Revisited), Danson and Dunst were both merely witnesses to the wave of debauchery and destruction left by The Beastie Boys in their quest to party another day.
Patrick Wilson & Jean Smart - Barry Munday
Jean Smart and Patrick Wilson play a crime matriarch and a police officer, so they won't be having many friendly conversations in the series. Smart and Wilson have previously played much closer characters when they were mother and son on the 2010 film Barry Munday. Wilson played the polar opposite of his upstanding Fargo character by playing suburban lothario Barry Munday, who wanted to become a father when he discovered he got one of his many women (the always-great Judy Greer) pregnant.
Nick Offerman & Jesse Plemons - Dalai Lama
Nick Offerman and Jesse Plemons may not cross paths on the Fargo TV series, but before they were, respectively, spouting conspiracy theories and hiding bodies in freezers, these two were playing roommates who talked about sarcasm in the short film Dalai Lama from filmmakers Jeremy Cohen and Stephanie Hunt. The short also features Megan Mullaly and Derek Waters of Drunk History.
Kirsten Dunst & Bruce Campbell - Spider-Man
Putting Bruce Campbell in the Fargo series is a nice nod to his role in the history of midwestern cinema as a muse and regular collaborator with director Sam Raimi, a frequent collaborator to The Coen Brothers. In fact, Campbell has an uncredited cameo in the original Fargo, giving him a closer connection to the original film than any cast member so far. When Sam Raimi got the opportunity to tackle the original Spider-Man franchise (a film Dunst also appeared in, of course), he made sure to find a spot for his earliest muse by including him as a wrestling announcer. Campbell is returning to the midwest in Fargo as he plays Ronald Reagan, who Dunst's Mary Blomquist may see while Reagan is on the campaign trail.
Brad Garrett & Ted Danson - The Amatuers
Ted Danson and Brad Garrett are on opposite sides of the law on Fargo, but in a different small town these two were part of a town-wide effort to create a successful amateur porn movie to make the members of the town rich in The Amateurs.
Jeffrey Donovan & Bruce Campbell - Burn Notice
Jeffrey Donovan, who plays son Dodd Gerhardt of the Gerhardt crime family, is sharing Fargo with his Burn Notice co-star of seven seasons for the first time since the popular USA series ended in 2013. On Burn Notice, the two played former military operatives who worked together to keep Miami, and the world, safe. Now, Campbell is playing former actor and president Ronald Reagan, and hopefully the showrunners find a way to make these two reunite on screen.
Image: Chris Large/FX
