Ewan McGregor on the challenges of creating and playing two different characters in season 3.
Ewan McGregor likes being his own worst enemy.
Hawley revealed Ray is heavy-set, and McGregor optimistically suggested using prosthetics and padding for the effect.
Credit: Matthias Clamer/FX (2)
Oh, and his characters wigs would fit better if he shaved his head so he did that too.
And of course, he has to master not one buttwoslightly different versions of that notoriously tricky Fargo-ian accent.
The actor gets to show off his gorging with a nude scene in the first episode as Ray.
TheFargoteam knew the transformation was effective when Ray confused newcomers to the set.
She really thought he was letting himself go!
That just speaks to the level of detail.
He asked me if Id seen theFargoseries.
I didnt really get it.
He said, You should take a look and get back to me.
I thought that was quite intriguing.
Youve played two characters in the same project twice before.
Whats the appeal?I like the challenge of playing two different people in something.
I thought it was a really wonderful opportunity, and Ive been proven right.
The cast is brilliant.
I love the pace of it; we shoot so much more in a day than on a movie.
Its much more satisfying than when you have a big-budget movie and get only a couple shots a day.
I dont like doing 20 takes.
I dont know what Im doing differently after five.
I tend to find what Im trying to do in the first few takes.
The other thing is having the director changing [as different directors shoot different episodes].
Ive never experienced that before.
Its possible, but I probably wouldnt have been as excited by it.
I might have been.
Its difficult to know because it was always going to be this way.
Noah wanted him to feel more downtrodden by life.
I put on a lot of weight.
I wear some padding too.
We concentrated on his heft and receding hairline, and there are three pieces of prosthetics.
We also got rid of my cleft chin.
Once we got that look, we got into Emmit.
I thought it was a great idea.
Emmit is healthier and more upright.
I wear a Spanx T-shirt that I squeezed into.
It keeps me more upright too.
I also wear brown contacts.
But then I realized I had to make themfeeldifferent too.
They couldnt just feel like me in a costume.
I wanted them vocally to be slightly different.
I think its worked.
Ive seen the first two episodes.
I wasnt watching thinking, Thats me, I watched it believing in both.
But his accent was very linked to that character.
I think my accent is not as strong.
Which character was more fun to play?Ray.
Everybody enjoys Ray more on set, too.
Its really interesting to play somebody whos so pissed off at life.
He feels like his brother took advantage of him when he was younger.
Hes completely in love with Nikki, this drop-dead gorgeous con.
He cant quite believe his luck.
Hes waiting for the curtain to be drawn back and realize its all a hoax.
And Emmit?Emmit is interesting, playing him during this whole Trump affair.
There are moments I feel like are his Trump moments.
And he said, Hi, its nice to meet you.
And I said, No we met last night.
And he said, Nope.
And I said, We had a long conversation about the car.
And he was adamant he had never met me before.
I pulled up a photo of Ray on my phone and said, Did you meetthisguy?
And he couldnt believe it.
Ray and Nikki are competitive bridge players.
Did you learn how to play for your scenes?People spend a lifetime learning to play bridge well.
I had an hours lesson, and I will never understand it.
I learned how to move the cards about properly, and thats it.
Ive had to stretch myself to make it do this, and thats great.
