With something like the anthology series Fargo, which returns for a fourth year following the creative vision of Noah Hawley, whose TV work can at times be inconsistent but strives to be unlike anything else you’re currently watching.
While the show’s name continues to pay homage to the original 1996 Coen brothers film, each new story is very much Hawley’s creation.
Fargo Season is much more reminiscent of The Godfather than the previous morality tales produced under this title. Year 4 might arguably be the furthest away yet from the original Fargo, literally, temporally, and geographically. The focus stays on the rise of organized crime in 1950 Kansas City, with different families of ethnic groups scrambling for dominance as the post-World War II American economy offers up plenty of new opportunities for profit.
Chris Rock is not known for his dramatic roles but he is surprisingly good in Fargo. Rock will be entering this warped midwest world as Loy Cannon. The no-nonsense and effortlessly cool head of the crime syndicate, Loy is the revered leader of a band of black migrants fleeing from the Jim Crow South. This season will follow Cannon’s crew and the Italian Fadda family as they battle for control over Kansas City. But in true Fargo fashion there’s a twist to this turf warfare. As is tradition in this odd world, the leaders of these two opposing crime families have to trade sons with their rivals. As each family raises the other’s boy, it’s believed that this treaty will encourage peace between the Cannon collective and the Fadda family. Of course that’s easier said than done. We had the opportunity to talk to Chris Rock via digital and he confessed that he speaks some Spanish and read Roberto Bolaño, one of his favorite authors.
Q: I heard that you Speak Spanish?
A: Not fluently but I love Spanish. My wife speaks Spanish so I have a repertoire of words that I should not repeat.
Q: Have you read any Spanish authors?
A: I had, yes. I’m a big reader of Bolaño, a writer that is very emotional. I can’t wait to start traveling again and be able to go to Spain and Mexico.
Q: How did you work during the pandemic?
A: I got in the car. I kissed my wife and went to my room to work. It was definitely frustrating to stop when we stopped because you feel like you're on a roll. But you know, you're eight shows in, and you're also exhausted. It allowed me to recharge my battery. And, you know, and I saw a couple of the episodes of Fargo, and I was like, Okay, let me work on my game. I don't know if anybody's following basketball right now, but the Miami Heat is like, Oh they had a break, and now they're better than everybody, even though they weren't before, like the break helped them more than everybody else. So the break helped me. Honestly, I think my last two shows are my best.
Q: You are the new protagonist for the 4th season of Fargo?
A: Yes, and it is the most serious role of my career. I had to be disciplined and run a route I never did. It’s about getting the part down but also getting my personality in there. It’s the biggest Fargo. The scale is tremendous. Fargo normally tells little stories that get out of hand. They’re about ordinary people, something happens, and then we get to see how evil ordinary people can be. This is quite different. We start off gangsters, so we’re beginning with bad people, and then it escalates.
Q: Were you surprised to be called for this role?
A: Shocked. First I thought the producer Noah Hawley was calling me about hosting a charity project. I did not think in my wildest dreams it was to be on the show. I was pleasantly surprised. I was a comedian when I was Poky in New Jack City but I’m an actor and I can play drama as well.
Q: You seem to change your image with this character?
A: Yes, is the first time I play my age. It is a role age appropriate. I’ll be 55 in a couple of weeks. Black don’t crack. Money is the best lotion in the world. I played a guy called Loy Cannon. I was just happy to be offered a decent part that was well-rounded. Aside from Warren Littlefield, Fargo executive, no one ever offers me decent parts. It was great to play somebody who was actually my age, too. I kind of got really famous at 35 or whatever, 37. Everything that’s offered to me is kind of like a man-boy. So it was great to actually play a grown ass man. He’s a businessman, he’s a deacon at his church, he’s a loving father and husband, he owns a bank, and he’s also a criminal. He fixes fights and runs numbers and prostitution. He’s always on edge. It’s Tony Soprano style.
Q: It is true that you hesitated to be in this show?
A: The only reason not to do it was personal. I was going to be away from my family. It's a long commitment. I’ve been filming this since September in Chicago and I’m not done. And it’s freaking cold. They film a lot of it outside. But one of the great things about acting in the cold is that the cold does some of the acting for you, so you don't have to fake it. The gray hair also helps me get into character, helps me not be Chris Rock, comedian guy. It takes a second for people to realize it’s me, which is good. I’ve shotguns before, and had a fight or two before. The cool bit about this character for me is he’s so well rounded. It’s not just about his job, it’s also about his home life, and it’s what it’s like to be black in the 1950s and to be very ambitious — which must suck, right? I used to do a joke about Barack Obama being the first black president. Being the first black anything sucks. No one really enjoys it until they’re, like, the 37th black president. Jackie Robinson had no fun, but Reggie Jackson had the time of his life.
Q: Why is there such a fascination with Fargo?
A: The writing without a doubt. Noah does all these great monologues. And if you watch Fargo the camera is always moving. So you have a two-page monologue and the camera is moving like that, everything’s got to be perfect. There’s a ton of dialogue and it’s so well written and it’s all important. The smallest scene has tremendous meaning. There’s no place to take a scene off. Everything requires a lot of thought ahead of time. There’s nothing like, just give me the pages, I’ll say it now.
Q: This season talks a lot about immigration?
A: Yes. That’s more of a Noah thing. I just got to play the guy I got and I play him at that moment. I got to play him like a person. Most people aren’t thinking about their place in history. I mean, maybe Martin Luther King was. But my character has just got to deal with today. It’s not like it’s Tuesday in the 1950s for him, it’s just Tuesday.
Q: You’re used to writing your own material. Was there ever a line or a scene where you pushed back and suggested something else?
A: Occasionally. Whenever I would interject, it wasn’t as a writer, I’d be talking as a guy who’s lived this and kind of knows Loy Cannon. In the 1950s, my dad was 17 and my granddad was 30. So I know these guys a little bit. Occasionally I would pull Noah to the side and go, What about this? or I have literally sat with these guys and they never say this. As the senior black person on the set, along with costar Glynn Turman, there is a responsibility you have if you disagree with something. Nine times out of 10 the person you say it to appreciates it.
Q: Is there any comedy in Fargo?
A: This season it is. Aside from its sharp depiction of racism in America, there’s lots of great humor in Fargo. It’s better than most comedies on television. And better than most dramas, all dramas on television. Most good things have both.
Q: Do you have your next project?
A: I’m not really sure. I’ve been writing a lot during the months at home. I am encouraged by everything that’s going on outside of the show business world. When I read the scripts, even before all these protests, which was a year ago, they were pretty powerful then. Are they more powerful now? Yeah. Happens sometimes. Fargo, so far, is the best part I’ve ever done and, honestly, probably the best part I’ll ever have.
By Maria Estevez
Correspondent writer
