Bokeem Woodbine – Fargo

Q) What drew you to the role?

A) I got the audition last December and it was a simple audition sheet outlining the network, the show, who else was involved in terms of who else was cast, there were only two other people at the time that I was aware of. It really took me by surprise. I would have never ever imagined in my mind that I would be audition for “Fargo.” I hadn’t seen the first season, but so many people were going on and on about it and giving me a hard time for not having watched it. I dialed in for about 72 hours and I spent the whole time working on the material for the audition and intermittently watching Kung Fu movies when I needed a break. I auditioned and kind of flubbed one of the lines, I figured when I left the room, that was it. You might as well just stop right there. It’s been my experience that they suffer no fools in the audition process. TV is a very time oriented filming process with a very tight schedule. I left the room thinking that it wasn’t going to happen. It was the biggest surprise in my career to date when my agent called me and said I got the role.

Q) What did you add to your role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) It’s just something that occurred to me when I was getting ready for the audition. I could hear him in my head talking. That’s how he sounded. When I did the audition I did it like that. I got the part. When we were getting ready to shoot I kept waiting for them to tell me not to do that. I kept waiting for them to say, “OK, that worked in the audition, but we’re going to do it like this.” But they never did. So, I just went with it. To me it was very organic. The character really spoke to me like that.

Q) What kind of glimpse will we be getting into Mike this season?

A) There might be some glimpses. Viewers might be able to extrapolate where he’s from. The backstory I came up with, Noah [Hawley] cosigned and said, “If that’s his backstory, that’s his backstory.” Noah puts a lot of faith in his actors. He gave me free reign as far as creating Mike Milligan. Nine times out of ten he was ok with my choices.

Q) Do you prefer that way of working?

A) I always develop a backstory. Whether or not there’s time to share with the director, I love when the director and I can collaborate. Things being the way they are there’s not always time. I’m a mercenary. I get specifics in terms of who is working on my side, what my weapons are and what I have working for me and working against me. And a lot of times that’s all I have. There’s not always the time to formulate backstory or to confer with the director, in order to get on the same page about the backstory. Generally, I would prefer to have the time I had with “Fargo.” I had five or maybe six weeks to develop my sense of the character and that’s always a blessing and a preferable situation, but you don’t always get that.

Q) What do you think it would take to scare Mike?

A) The only thing that would ever scare Mike is not reaching his full potential; is not getting everything he can get out of life given his attributes and given his skill sets. Mike doesn’t want to be an old man thinking about, “Well, if I had just pushed a little harder…” He doesn’t want to be Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman.

Q) What has been the most challenging part of filming in Alberta?

A) Sometimes you had to fight hard to maintain your concentration during such a cold climate. You had to try to do your best to stay warm and stay in the zone. For me, in my career, it was a unique challenge. I had never really worked in that sort of weather before.

Q) Is there any room for improv at all with the dialogue?

A) We don’t mess with the text and there’s no need to. There’s nothing I could come up with on my own for dialogue that would be better or even as good as what was there.

Q) What is it like working with your costar Brad Garrett?

A) It was a true pleasure. Brad is a pro. He’s got a great sense of humor, even when the cameras aren’t rolling. There were a few moments where he would say something hilarious and I needed to get myself together before the cameras rolled for the scene. I’d ask, “Can you stop?” because I had to try and get back to the character. I think that his approach to Joe Bulo is magnificent. He’s laid back, easy to work with, no pretension. I learned some things about comedic timing from him. Just about how funny he is when the cameras aren’t rolling. I think he’s a comedic powerhouse. His dramatic turn in this is going to surprise some people.

Q) Despite the show dealing with ruthless gangsters, there is a frequent dose of comedy to the episodes. How does comedy play into this season of the show?

A) I think the movie and the first season – I just started watching the first season not too long ago. They all have a sense of humor and I think that this season is no different. It’s an aspect of the “Fargo”-verse humor. I wouldn’t necessarily say that this season is funnier. There are so many comedic moments this season that I didn’t even even realize that were going to play as humor until I saw them. Humor is an incredible important part of the season. I don’t think that we ever tried to be funny, but then there’s so much stuff that’s funny by accident. I don’t think that everyone tried too hard to hit the joke, it’s in the text and I think that we just did our best to honor the material.

Q) Why do you think it is so effective to have Mike be so silent?

A) I love it. That was one of the great joys of this gig. Being the spokesperson for these guys was a thrill. It made sense and it made Mike more Mike because he loves to talk. Interestingly enough, The Kitchen Brothers talk a lot in real life. And they’re twins so they have their own language. I’d tell them, “Why don’t you try being in character for a little while?” [laughs] Yeah, Mike loves to be the spokesperson.

Q) You’ve had an amazing career. How does your work on “Fargo” fit in with how you want to be seen as an actor?

A) It is a great opportunity to give the viewers who may have seen me in something else another side of me, another side of what I can do. It’s a gift from the actor gods. It’s so perfectly written, the characters so well crafted and the story seamless. I think this will give me an opportunity to move in diff directions. It’s easy to get stagnated sometimes even if you don’t want to and, hopefully, people will realize that I’m capable of doing things that I haven’t before.

*CONFERENCE CALL*