Allison Tolman – Fargo

By starrymag | May 24, 2014

Q) I know this is your first big project.  Can you talk about how you got the role?

A) Yes.  My background is in theater and a little bit of sketch, and I was in Chicago when I booked the role, just kind of working at my day job and doing auditions here and there, but not really booking anything.  And I put myself on tape for Fargo, and then sort of walked out of the room and forgot about it and went about my daily life.  And then a few weeks later they called me and asked me to come in and test in New York, and then five days after that they called and told me that I had the role.  So, it’s kind of a quick unfolding and a really fast way for your life to change that much overnight.

Q) I was wondering, when you did get the call and get offered the role, what went through your head to be able to work with such an amazing cast for your first big role on TV?

A) Yes, certainly it was overwhelming, and I think that when I first got the call I was probably in shock.  Noah Hawley made the call and told me that I had the role.  And the way he tells it I said, “Thank you” very politely, and then I had to get off the phone because I had to go back to work.  So, I know inside I was definitely freaking out and losing my mind, but he said I was very calm and composed at the time.  So, yes, it was intimidating, but luckily once I got there everyone was so kind and patient and welcoming I didn’t have a lot to worry about.

Q) Molly is like the one person who’s really smart, connects the dots, yet she’s not like a real extrovert about it.  So, how do you approach her?

A) I think that’s one of the best things about Molly is that she’s just driven by this really strong sense of duty, I think that’s what drives her to do things.  And it’s not personal ambition, she’s not snotty about how she’s smarter than everyone, she’s not trying to one-up anybody, she just sees what needs to be done and feels very strongly about it being accomplished.  So, she falls into that role not because she wants personal gain or personal glory, but because no one else will do it.  And I think that’s one of the things that’s most endearing about her.

Q) On the show you play a police deputy whose job is to sometimes question people, like “Lester.”  And as a guy whose job is to interview film makers and talent about the filming experience, what, in your opinion, is the art to a good interrogation?

A) Learning your lines well.  No, I think that certainly the way that it’s written and certainly the way that we tried to play it is that I think you just have to remember to listen to everything that your scene partner, or in your case your interviewee, is telling you, not just with their words but with their body and their eyes, and pick up on things that will help lead you to what your next question should probably be.  In my case hoping that that will help you crack the case.

Q) Look, last night there was a lot to digest in that episode.  But I think the hardest thing to swallow, and you’ve probably seen it all over the place this morning, would be your character’s death.  So, I’m going to go ahead and ask it, what can you tell us about “Molly’s” fate?

A) Well, I know everyone’s quite upset about what happened, but the more savvy fans of mine are getting on my IMDB page and checking to see how many episodes I’m in.  So, that has given them some comfort, I think, during this dark time.  So, yes, people don’t need to be too worried, although of course nothing is sacred in the world of Fargo, so a lot can happen between now and episode 10.

Q) Living in Minnesota it’s hard not to associate Fargo with some Minnesota accent, and I was wondering can you tell us a little bit how you found your Minnesota voice?

A) Sure, yes.  I think that probably my original accent that I toned down and I did for my original audition was probably a combination of what I heard from the original film of Fargo and then just what I knew from different internet clips.  So, it was a little too broad, I think, a little bit too sketchy, like sketch comedy.  But, throughout the process we had a good dialect coach who kept us on track on the set and helped me tone that down, and “Molly” is so understated and such an understated character that it makes sense that her accent would be much more understated as well.  So, I’m hoping that, I know that a lot of people from Minnesota felt like the accents in the film sometimes were too broad, so I’m hoping that they don’t think that about the show.

Q) Your character, or all the character’s buried layers, what was your role in the construction of your character?  Was it all Noah Hawley, or did you get to do some improvisation building your character?

A) Sure.  Yes, I think that a lot of that is Noah.  Noah wrote a really strong character that when I read her I felt very strongly about the way that she was supposed to be interpreted.  So, I think that it’s probably a pretty good split between the things that Noah wrote, the woman that Noah wrote, and then my interpretation of her.  But, yes, I think that the way that she’s layered and the different facets of her that we get to see and discover as we go through the season was one of the best things about her.

Q) You’ve had some great scenes with a lot of the cast members, like Bob Odenkirk and Colin Hanks.  Is there a favorite scene of yours that kind of sticks out to you?

A) Yes, there is a favorite scene that I have that I got to film with Colin, and it’s in episode 8.  And the really nice thing about it is that we had permission when we played it to not feel like we had to speak too quickly, that it was okay to have some silence in there, and it was okay for these two people to just exist in the same space for a little while.  And that one was really special.  It was really fun to play that and to not feel like—because I talk a lot in the show and I do a lot of police speak and I have to relay a lot of facts, so getting to just sit with my character, “Molly” and “Gus” to just sit together and have not as much to say was really nice as an actress to be able to play with that.

Q) You got to work with basically pretty much almost all of the ensemble for the show, as far as I can tell. Who is the most interesting of that experience?

A) Oh, that’s a tough one.  I guess for me as an actress and coming into television as a newbie it was really fascinating to work with Martin Freeman, because of the freedom that he has when he films.  He is really unafraid to do a different thing, take after take after take each one is different, so that was really fascinating to me coming in new.  And I can’t imagine having the confidence that he has to be able to just swing so wildly from one end of the spectrum to the other, which he does, and I think is what makes him so fantastic and gives the editors such a difficult job when they’re trying to figure out what take they should use.  So that was really fascinating.

Q) Can you talk about your scenes working with Bob Odenkirk?

A) Sure, yes.  We had great fun.  We spent some time together off set as well, so we had a nice rapport before we went into those scenes and had to disagree so much, which was good.  But, yes, I think the dynamic between “Bill Oswalt” and “Molly Solverson” is really a fun one to play with, and I could tell while we were doing it that we were doing some funny stuff.  And as the season progresses their interactions become more and more poignant, and it’s really fun to watch that evolution take place.

Q) Playing a female officer in the Fargo TV series, were you kind of afraid of being compared to Frances McDormand?

A) Certainly that fear was there.  And I knew going in that these characters were really different and that the character of “Molly” was really strong in her own right.  But it was definitely a concern of mine, and especially as a newcomer,  you don’t come out the gate as a singer and try to compare with Judy Garland.  So, it was scary for me to come into this role, I knew people associated with her, the comparisons were nerve-wracking.  But I think that we’ve proven in the past few episodes and since we’ve started that these characters are different enough that people can draw parallels between them, but they don’t have to be pitted against each other.  So, I feel a little bit of that pressure has been taken off.

Q) You mentioned that when you found out that you got the part that you had to go back to work.  What was your job?  What were you working on, or what were you doing?

A) Yes, when I auditioned for Fargo, when I put myself on tape originally I was actually unemployed and I wasn’t working.  I was sort of temping and auditioning and interviewing in the afternoons.  And then in the meantime, in the time that passed, I got a job at a photography studio, a pinups photography studio in Chicago, as their post-production manager.  So, I was in charge of all of the photos going out and being approved and being mailed to the right places, etc.

Q) Did you have to give your two weeks notice, or did you just leave the next day?

A) No, I went in the next day and I told them I’d give them through the end of the month.  I think it was about two and a half weeks.

Q) Last night we had the flying fishes and some more interesting symbolic stuff from Billy Bob Thornton.  Do you understand, we’re all parsing it out and trying to figure out, okay, so what’s Fargo really all about?  As an actress do you understand the series, or are you just kind of along for the ride and wondering what the hell is this all about here?

A) Yes.  Well, I certainly have the added benefit of having read everything, so I know where things are headed, which is helpful.  But I read all these scripts when I first got them and then after that I didn’t read them again.  I just read my scenes when I was memorizing lines.  So it’s really fun to experience those things along with everybody, the storylines that I kind of vaguely remembered and scenes that I had forgotten took place, and characters that I had forgotten that I liked as much as I did.  So being able to watch all of that and remember all of the other storylines that come together that run parallel to mine is really fun.

Q) So, you do understand it, the symbolism and all the other things going on?

A) I think so.  I think so.

Q) You have so much good chemistry between yourself and Keith Carradine’s character, “Lou.”  Can you talk about what it was like to work with him for such short scenes, but fill them with so much father-daughter emotion?

A) Sure, yes.  Keith, in addition to being a really tremendous actor, is a really wonderful man.  And we had a very paternal relationship throughout filming, so it was kind of interesting to go in and be able to play that on screen as well.  But it’s nice for you when you’re playing a character who does do so much work, work, work, work, work to be able to play scenes where she gets to kind of come home and sit with a person who really knows her and loves her, and to see what those interactions look like.  Similarly, I felt really safe whenever I played scenes with Keith.  I felt very taken care of and I knew that he was proud of the work that I was doing, and it was just very much like holding a scene with a father and daughter.

Q) What’s “Molly’s” relationship with her dad?  I know that there was some tension, especially toward the beginning of the series.  What’s the dynamic between her and her dad?

A) Yes.  I think that she listens to her father’s advice and she seeks it out.  She doesn’t come right out and say, “Dad, tell me what you think about this.”  But she knows when she goes and sits down at his counter and gets some coffee that he’s going to tell her some story or other that is going to help her try to figure out what she’s supposed to do.  So, I think there’s shorthand there between the two of them that’s really nice, that really reads.  And as far as that tension goes, I think that she goes and seeks his opinion and he gives it, and he knows full well that she’s going to do whatever she wants to do anyway.  But that’s the dance that they do, is that she goes and asks him what he thinks, and he tells her, and she says, “Okay, thanks,” and then she goes and does her own thing.

Q) I read that Dallas is where you felt like you learned to be an adult, and I was curious how that came to be?

A) Yes, I went to Dallas as soon as I got out of college, which getting out of college is like the scariest time in anyone’s life, I think, because you suddenly have to actually leave the school system and figure out what you’re going to do.  So, yes, Dallas is where I figured out how to balance a checkbook and that you had to have a job, and you couldn’t go back to your parents and say, “I need some more money for the food.”  So, yes, Dallas has a really special place in my heart because I spent that time there.  And in addition, that’s where I started my career and that’s kind of where I grew my resume, and it was really kind to me, theatrically and commercially.  I did a lot of work there.

Q) You’ve spent most of your life in Texas and recently moved to Chicago.  What was it like shooting in Calgary?  And you had kind of mentioned about feeling sad at the end of the scene because it’s kind of depressing.  What did you during your free time during shooting to decompress and enjoy the beautiful Calgary winters?

A) Yes, Calgary is beautiful, and I had a really good time there.  And I think that, yes, coming from Chicago I had a little bit of training for that cold, so that was helpful.  It certainly gets colder in Calgary than it does in Chicago.  And it was a long winter.  But, we spent quite a bit of time together off set, we all would go to dinner together, etc., go see movies or whatever, so that was kind of how we spent our time.  You’re on location and everybody’s away from their families, and so you kind of bond pretty quickly, because you’re the people that you have to spend time with, which helps with those days that you do have hard scenes or you have depressing days that are long days, you can spend time with the people that you’ve met.

Q) Your story, how you came to Fargo and what you were doing before then is really an inspiration for young actors and actresses, what does that mean to you, and do you see yourself as a role model for young actors?  And, what’s after this?  You mentioned that you were working at the pinups studio, but what’s next?  Do you go back to doing stuff like that, or did Fargo open up some new doors for you and some new opportunities?

A) Right.  Yes, it’s fascinating.  It’s a strange position to be put into, to have people looking at your life and saying that’s an inspirational story.  It’s a very strange place to find yourself.  I certainly didn’t think of it that way as I was living it.  But I think that my advice to people who are starting out would be that there’s no shame in having the job that you have that pays the bills and then having the things that you do in the rest of the time that makes you happy.  Not everybody goes whole hog and just acts and lives with seven roommates in a one bedroom apartment to kind of make ends meet.  For me it was always really important that I felt like I had some stability, so I always had day jobs.  I never really acted full-time.  But I kept at it, because it was what I loved, and I found ways to keep doing it regardless of what I was doing with my time.

Q) I’d like you to tell us how you feel to be a true detective in a dynamic of a dog-eat-dog world?

A) I think that the good thing that “Molly” has going for her is that she’s a natural detective, her brain works that way.  If she had remained untested and never had this case come her way, she might never have found that out about herself.  But because this has come her way and this has landed in her lap, she’s getting to find out just how good she is at this sort of analytical detective work.  And I think that it’s a really dog-eat-dog world, it’s a brutal, brutal world that this show takes place in, but she’s so pragmatic that I think she’s able to adjust and remain emotionally detached from the things that are going on and just proceed with getting things done.

Q) So, being sort of new at this and everything, what’s the one thing that you’ll take with you that you’ve learned just as an actor, like the best piece of advice or thing that you learned?

A) Oh, my goodness.  I guess, Keith Carradine said something really interesting to me, which is really poignant and which has been really helpful as I’m kind of proceeding and trying to figure out what’s going to happen with the next season.  And he said, “You have to think of it like that the life of a television show is like the life of a dog.  And it’s such a sweet thing to have a dog, but you know that at some point in time that dog’s not going to be with you anymore.  But that doesn’t make that time any less sweet.  You just have to enjoy it while you have it.”  Which is a really nice analogy, you know, I just have to think of Fargo, and any project that comes my way in the future, like that.  That it’s so sweet to work on and so sweet to get to do that thing, but eventually it’s going to end and you just have to enjoy the time that you have with it.

Q) Do you think that the fact that besides doing the pinups photographer job you’ve also done things like phone sales and been a dog walker, do you think the fact that you’re not some mega millionaire actress and just kind of an ordinary person you know kind of the role of just somebody that’s not really glamorous, or real crazy or anything like that, do you think that that has helped keep you grounded in the role?

A) I think that’s not a terrible stretch.  That’s probably true.  And I think that probably would be true for any actor in any role.  If you only live in the world of the actor and if you only live in the world of auditions, etc., then you don’t really have a whole lot to offer when it comes to playing the humans that you’re trying to audition for.  So, for me it’s served me really well to have this varied background and all these different things that I’ve done.  And I hope that that continues to serve me well in my career.

Q) Molly has a very methodical approach.  She takes things and looks at them and then puts them together.  Every detective has a different style or a different approach, and so do actors.  So, I’m kind of wondering what is your process like on the scale between Laurence Olivier’s, “It’s all just pretend,” to the more Stanislavski method approach?

A) That’s a good question.  I would say that I tend more towards Laurence Olivier, and that I’m able to turn things off when I’m done working.  I don’t have to live in that world.  That’s never been a problem for me.  But with that said, I think that there’s certainly value to figuring out how your character thinks and how they live and how they breathe, so that when you do have to turn that on, you’re able to do so.  And it is difficult sometimes.  It depends on the kind of scene you’re playing.  If you’re playing a really emotional scene it is a lot harder to leave that behind and still get home that evening and be like, why am I sad?  And you realize it’s because you’re pretending to be sad all day.  You have to remind yourself that it’s not real and be able to shake it off.

Q) Now fame is kind of being visited upon you, and I’m just wondering whether you’re totally comfortable with that yet, or whether this is going to take some real getting used to on your part?

A) Yes, I’m definitely not comfortable with it yet, and it will take a lot of getting used to.  And there are parts about it that are really fun.  It’s fun to be able to see what everybody’s thinking about the show and what they’re saying on the internet, and have people tweeting at you and stuff like that.  It’s fun.  There’s a lot of really great things about it, but it certainly is odd.  I’m 32, I’ve been in this business for 10 years, and I certainly had gotten past the point where fame and fortune was something that I was kind of dreaming about or anticipating, so I’m kind of having to recalibrate now that this is actually a part of my life.  I had stopped thinking about that being a possibility.

Q) You worked at Second City, you were in Second City, did you ever have any ambitions to, a lot of people on Saturday Night Live have come from there, did you ever have any thought of “Maybe that’s something I could do?”

A) Oh, absolutely.  I think that that was a big goal of mine actually when I went to Chicago, was I wanted to learn how to do improve and I wanted to learn how to write sketches.  And the goal, the dream would be to be on Saturday Night Live for me as a comedian for sure.  So, yes, that was definitely a goal of mine for many years.

Q) Is there any word yet about whether a second season will happen?

A) I have not heard any word yet.  I know that they’re discussing it, and discussing if they do have a second season, or a second installment in the anthology, which actors might make it through to another season, what time it will be placed in, etc., etc.  So, even among the people that know what’s going on, there’s so many different theories and there’s so many different options that I’m just kind of sitting tight until they let me know exactly what’s actually happening.

Q) Now, you teased that obviously you’ll be back for the next couple of episodes.  And without giving too much away, could you talk a little how the twist at the end of last night is going to affect your character?

A) I think that for sure the budding relationship that we saw between “Gus” and “Molly” is derailed a little bit by recent developments.  And then in addition, it’s a major setback for her.  She’s used to just go, go, go and being unable to do that is going to make things difficult for her, because, again, she’s really ambitious.  And secondly, while she’s not working other people are working on things, so definitely [indiscernible] episode has sort of derailed us from the track that we were on.

Q) You realized that you were becoming one of the standouts of the show, how was working with the cast knowing that you were being one of the unknowns on the show?

A) Yes, it’s a bizarre experience to go from being unknown to being one of the top four billed actors in a series like this that’s so well received.  And, again, I was so intimidated going into the project, but I was treated very kindly and so that quickly dissipated.  And I didn’t really know until I started reading the second and third episodes of how important “Molly” was going to be to the process.  So I learned that as I went, which was really fun.

Q) I’ve noticed that despite “Lorne” and “Molly” being on opposite sides of the law, they almost seem like nearest to each other in the way that they think, or at least she seems to be able to think along his wavelength unlike many of the other characters.  And I was wondering, what do you think about those parallels, and are they intentional?

A) I think that they certainly are intentional.  I think that Noah would say as well that these two are on opposing ends of the spectrum, one represents the best that we have to offer and one represents the worst that we have to offer.  But I think that, yes, absolutely there’s no mistake as well that they’re both sort of methodical and pragmatic creatures, which is interesting to watch them sort of plod along in these different directions with these similar tactics.

Q) Did you do any research into the job that “Molly” has before you started?

A) Yes.  Our still photographer on set was a policeman in Canada for 20 years, so when I first got into town I spent some time with him learning how to handle a weapon, learning how to search a room, and just kind of learning those basic sort of police observational skills that they employ when they’re on duty and throughout their lives.  And then in addition he was on set with us every day, so if I ever felt like I had a cop question or I needed to know how something would be done properly, he was there to let me know.

Q) One of my favorite scenes is with the hospital scene with you and Julie Ann Emery, who plays “Ida,” and you’re both kind of talking about the case without talking about it.  And I’ve felt that “Molly” has always been the moral compass of the show, but then she breaks into “Lester’s” house.  And I’m wondering, has anything in the script regarding your character surprised you?  And how do you, looking at “Molly,” see breaking into “Lester’s” house?  Did she cross a line?  Was it acceptable?  It surprised me that she did that, given her moral compass.

A) Yes, I agree. It’s funny, when I was playing them and when I was reading them I certainly forgot that she was doing these things that were kind of compromised, like breaking into his house, which is it breaking and entering if his key is there?  I don’t know.  And questioning him while he’s under sedation, which is probably also not totally moral.  But as I was playing them I was instantly on her side and instantly defensive of her, obviously.  But it is interesting, because she feels really strongly about the rules and about the police work and doing things properly, but she also feels like that sometimes the rules are wrong and sometimes your boss is wrong.  And sometimes you have to do your own thing because otherwise it’s not going to get done.  So, I don’t know if that’s something that would be drawn out of her if she weren’t faced with stakes as high, but I think it certainly is behooving her in this situation to break the rules a little bit.

Q) You said sometimes your boss is wrong, I wonder if you would think for a minute about the dynamic between “Molly” and Bob Odenkirk’s character, especially in light of the fact that back in the first episode the sheriff, who obviously passed away, really had designs on “Molly” becoming the chief.  So, can you speak about the dynamic between Bob Odenkirk’s character now and yours?

A) Sure.  Yes, there’s a really interesting evolution between the two of them, and you kind of get to watch them throughout the series begin to become colleagues and begin to respect each other for their different reasons, which is nice, because in the beginning he’s just such a buffoon.  He’s just really so wrong about everything.  But I think that does go back to in the beginning when he first becomes chief she still feels really strongly that he’s the chief and you get in line behind him and you do what he says, and those are the rules.  But as she quickly learns that if she follows behind him that things are going to be done incorrectly, and more importantly that her friend and mentor’s murder is not going to be solved, she starts to think that maybe she should step around him.  So, over the 10 episode arc the relationship between the two of them goes to some really, really beautiful places and I’m excited for people to see it.

Q) For those about to leave college, do you have any advice for them?

A) Oh man.  Just remember that no job is worth being unhappy, so if you’re at a job that you don’t like you should find a different one.  And just remember that everybody’s been through it and everybody survives into their 30s, and it’s a lot easier by the time you get to that point.  You’ve gotten into a good rhythm.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*