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By
Suzanne

Interview with Oliver Platt of "Fargo" on
FX 5/9/14
He's one of my favorite actors and always does a
fantastic job. I especially loved him on "Huff" on Showtime.
It was great to talk to him. He was wonderful on "Fargo"
just like in all of his shows and movies! What an honor to
speak with an actor of his level. Then again, that show has
a fabulous cast of great actors.
Final Transcript
FX NETWORK: Fargo
May 9, 2014/10:00 a.m. PDT
SPEAKERS
Kristy Silvernail / Senior Manager, Media Relations, FX
Networks
Oliver Platt / “Stavros Milos,” Fargo
PRESENTATION
Moderator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for
standing by, and welcome to the Fargo conference call. At
this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. We
will conduct a question and answer session, instructions
will be given to you at that time. (Operator instructions.)
I would now like to turn the call over to Kristy Silvernail.
Please go ahead.
Kristy: Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Fargo
conference call with guest star Oliver Platt, who plays
Supermarket King, “Stavros Milos.” We’d like to thank
everyone for joining us today, and remind you that this call
is for print purposes only; no audio may be used. Due to a
high volume of journalists on the line, we respectfully
request that you limit yourself to one question at a time,
and then get back into queue for any follow ups you may
have. As a reminder, Fargo airs Tuesday nights at 10 p.m.
Eastern and Pacific only on FX.
With that said, let’s go ahead and take the first question.
Moderator: Thank you. (Operator instructions.) Our first
question comes from the line of Greg Staffa with Your
Entertainment. Please go ahead.
Greg: Thank you for taking our call, Mr. Platt. Greetings
from Minnesota. It’s always interesting to see Hollywood’s
interpretation of how we live out here. My question is, this
past week we learned about the ice scraper and the money
that ties things together to the film, and I’m wondering how
much of a back story were you given by Noah [Hawley] in
order to prepare for your roll as “Stavros”?
Oliver: You know, we developed this idea that he had come
from Chicago with his family, and that he was just on hard
times; a devout man on hard times who is given this “gift”
if you will. That was pretty much it. The material, itself,
is pretty alive. That was pretty much it.
Greg: When did you find out about the connection to the film?
Oliver: We got the episodes as they were written, and when I
read it.
Greg: Oh, wow. Thank you for your time.
Oliver: You bet.
Moderator: Our next question comes from the line of Preston
Barta with North Texas Daily. Mr. Barta, your line is open.
Preston: Hello, Mr. Platt. How are you doing?
Oliver: Good, how are you?
Preston: Doing great. I’m calling on the behalf of my
university. My college buddies and I like to create drinking
games out of our favorite TV shows and films, especially the
Coen Brothers, or worlds like this where things go from bad
to being really bad. What do you think would need to happen,
or shown on film—or the TV show for us to create a drinking
game out of Fargo?
Oliver: Oh, gosh. I’m not sure that that’s something that I—I
don’t know if I want to help you build a Fargo drinking
game, to be truthful. You could certainly key it off certain
phrases is the first idea that comes to mind.
Preston: Yes.
Oliver: I don’t know. Every time somebody says, “Oh, geez.”
Anyway, that’s going to be my contribution to your drinking
game.
Preston: Thank you.
Moderator: Next question comes from the line of Eric Volmers
with Calgary Herald. Please go ahead.
Eric: Hi, Mr. Platt. You shot here in Calgary and Alberta, it
was actually the coldest winter in 20 years, apparently.
What were your experiences like here, and how did it help
with your performance?
Oliver: Well, it was funny. It was very, very cold when I was
there, but then we also—there was a little bit of the
chinook, too—
Eric: Right.
Oliver: —but apparently the chinook wasn’t visiting with the
frequency that it usually did. There’s a scene that takes
place in Episode 6 that—it was pretty intense, and we were
in, I think, ten degree below weather doing this stuff over
and over again. What can I tell you? It helps. It’s like in
terms of you’re putting yourself in the position of what the
character’s going through with Mother Nature giving you a
huge assist. The landscape—it’s a very, very well chosen
location in terms of feeding that sense of the expanse and
sort of the desolation and maybe the loneliness of those
people.
Eric: Thank you.
Moderator: Thank you, and our next question comes from the
line of Bill Harris with Sun Media. Please go ahead.
Bill: Hi, Oliver. First of all, did you have any right of
first refusal or any input on anything on the guy you got to
play the young you, and how close was he?
Oliver: I thought they did a sensational piece of casting
there myself. I was really surprised, and I thought that it
was—clearly they had that crossfade in mind, and if you’re
going to sell that there better be some architectural
similarity there, you know? I thought he was marvelous, I
really did.
Bill: You’re looking at him and, as you said, the flashing
ahead to your character. Is the challenge of this guy, or
maybe the challenge as an actor—because this guy was so used
to being in control, like he was out of control when he was
young then he spent most of his adult life in control, and I
guess, is the fear of it now that it’s spinning out of
control for him again? Is that the challenge to play as an
actor?
Oliver: Absolutely or, rather, the fun of it. Not knowing
why—
Bill: Right.
Oliver: —his head has been so successfully messed with, so
artfully screwed with, and it’s just a delicious sort of
menu of obstacles for an actor to—is it God, is it my ex—who
could possibly be doing, or orchestrating these things. On
top of that, the way they’re messing with…the way his
medication has been messed with so that the way he’s
perceiving it is—orchestration actually isn’t a bad word to
describe the whammy that Billy Bob [Thornton’s character
“Lorne Malvo”] put on me.
Bill: Alright. Thank you so much.
Oliver: You bet.
Moderator: Our next question comes from the line of Suzanne
Lanoue with The TV MegaSite. Please go ahead.
Suzanne: Good morning.
Oliver: Morning.
Suzanne: I’m a big fan of yours ever since Huff. I loved that
show.
Oliver: Thank you very much.
Suzanne: I was wondering, when you did the scene with all of
the crickets, was that all CGI or did you have to contend
with real-life insects?
Oliver: It was a pleasant mix. There were inanimate crickets,
there were animate crickets, and then there were imaginary
crickets. It was one of those classic green screen
situations where you sort of—yet, with a lot of motion to
it, too. It was a lot of fun to shoot, it was a lot of fun
to shoot, and I thought that the way the concentric circles
of chaos that were created in the market, itself, was
delightfully realized.
Suzanne: It certainly came over well. It all went very
smoothly as planned, and no problems with all that?
Oliver: Yes. I think that so much of this stuff can be sort
of laced in, in post. I don’t remember doing a tremendous
amount of takes.
Suzanne: Alright. Thank you very much.
Oliver: You bet.
Moderator: Thank you, and our next question comes from the
line of Rodrigo Nogueira with Time Out Lisbon.
Rodrigo: We’re seeing your IMDb page, and you did TV when you
were younger in the ages starting out, then you didn’t do TV
in the ‘90s, then you got back on TV in the ‘00s. What are
your feelings on how TV has evolved on this show, in
particular, because it’s an anthology series and I reckon
that it’s easier to commit to it as an actor than to commit
to a bigger role in a network television series or something
like that.
Oliver: Yes, it’s ultimately all about the writing, and—I’m
sorry, can you rephrase your question?
Rodrigo: Okay. How do you see the evolution of television
from when you started to when you were a guest on Miami Vice
[indiscernible]?
Oliver: [indiscernible] depending on who you talk to we’re in
either the second or third golden age of American
television, and the advent of the limited miniseries, as you
observe, a marvelous thing for actors because, as you said,
you don’t have to sign your life away. It’s also allowing
television to do what really only television can do, which
is novelize a—use the format, the serialized format, to tell
us a story over a period of time and really get under the
character’s skin. Television’s going strong.
Rodrigo: You were saying that the writing is so alive on this
show. Do you think that the stuff you were looking at in the
ages was written with less detail, maybe?
Oliver: Yes, certainly. Network television was very, very
different and, again, it was about having closed episodes.
Like I say, the fun part is to take part in a story that’s
unfolding. People walk up to you on the street and they grab
you by the lapels and they say, what’s going to happen next?
Rodrigo: Okay, thank you.
Oliver: You bet. Guys, I’m going to take 30 seconds and get a
glass of water, okay? I’ll be right back. Hello.
Moderator: Our next question comes from the line of Jamie
Ruby with SciFiVision. Please go ahead.
Jamie: Hi. Thank you so much for joining this call. Of
course, my dog decides it’s the moment to bark
[indiscernible] sorry.
Oliver: Oh, dear. I know the feeling.
Jamie: I just wanted to say, I’ve been a fan of yours since I
saw you on Gun Shy. I absolutely love that movie.
Oliver: Oh, thank you.
Jamie: Sure. You started to talk a little bit about the
writing, but can you talk more about what attracted you to
the role, and why you decided to take it?
Oliver: Just such a muscular arc, you know? One of the first
things you’re looking at is, where does the guy start and
where does he end and how do they get him there? That’s what
we yearn for as actors, is that sort of distance to travel,
and Noah laid that out in spades. It was a story that took
this guy and took everything that he believed in and turned
it on its head, and he didn’t know who it was, who was doing
it to him even though he had his—and that’s the brilliance
of the scheme, is the ninja mind tricks.
Jamie: Great. Well, thank you so much. I’m really loving it
so far.
Oliver: Oh, glad you like it. Thank you.
Moderator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line
of Rebecca Murray with ShowbizJunkies. Please go ahead.
Rebecca: Good morning. I was wondering, did you have any
trepidation at all about starring in a show that’s based on
a movie that’s so critically acclaimed that people still
hold so dearly to their hearts?
Oliver: The answer is, absolutely. The stuff that I was
shown, the story that I was told, the fact that Joel and
Ethan [Coen] had blessed it was not insignificant. I have to
say, I think that Noah’s done a pretty remarkable job of
sort of threading that needle of writing in their tone, but
sort of—he had his own voice, if you will and, to me, it’s
pretty impressive stuff.
Rebecca: Oh, absolutely. Thank you.
Moderator: Thank you, and our next question comes from the
line of Bruce Eisen with HereIsTV. Please go ahead.
Bruce: Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Platt.
Oliver: Morning.
Bruce: You mentioned a few minutes ago that some people are
claiming we’re in a golden age of TV, but I wasn’t clear if
you agree with that. I’m wondering if you do and, if so,
what would be some of the top shows that you either like to
watch or that you think personify this golden age?
Oliver: I absolutely agree with that. One of the shows that
I’ve been watching, I like to watch—obviously Breaking Bad,
and there’s that classic—Breaking Bad. I’ve been watching
The Americans, the second season of which has been pretty
sensational, I think; I’ve been watching—I’m blanking here a
tiny bit. I absolutely feel that we’re living in a, again,
depending on who you talk to, a renaissance of—
Bruce: Do you think that’s on cable, specifically, or would
you say it also extends to broadcast?
Oliver: I think that cable creates the environment that’s
most friendly to it for obvious reasons because of the
obsession with serialization, or rather of syndication is
not really there. I’m trying to come up with a couple other
shows for you, though.
Bruce: I appreciate that.
Oliver: Anyway—
Bruce: It’s not supposed to be a test, so I think you for
your time this morning.
Oliver: You bet.
Bruce: Take care.
Moderator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line
of Sabienna Bowman with TV Equals. Please go ahead.
Sabienna: Hi, Oliver. It’s so nice to speak with you today.
Oliver: Thank you.
Sabienna: My question for you is, we see “Stavros” go from
being this broken man, who believes God just showed a great
gift to him to becoming someone who’s kind of almost mad
with power and calling himself a king. How do you think
“Stavros” evolves into the man he is when “Malvo” comes into
his life?
Oliver: I’m sorry, could you ask the question again?
Sabienna: Sure. I was just saying, we see “Stavros” kind of
go from being sort of broken, and he believes God gave him
this money, and then to who he is now, this man who has so
much power, and he’s even calling himself the king. How do
you think he evolved into the man he is when “Malvo” comes
into his life?
Oliver: Well, he built this extraordinary supermarket empire,
and he’s been very, very focused on the externals. You get
the sense that “Malvo” detects a certain amount of…there,
and he just has a nose for that kind of thing. He’s all
about how everything’s looking. Obviously he doesn’t really
feel he deserves it, which is probably why he’s on some
level, which is why he’s so focused on the theatricality of
it all. I think that that’s where we are when “Malvo” shows
up.
Sabienna: Alright. Are we going to see things continue to
escalate with “Malvo” sort of torturing “Stavros” as the
show goes on?
Oliver: Indeed you are.
Sabienna: Alright. Thank you so much, Mr. Platt.
Oliver: You bet.
Moderator: Thank you, and our next question comes from the
line of Lisa Steinberg with Starry Constellation. Please go
ahead.
Lisa: Hi. It’s such an honor to speak with you. Thank you for
your time.
Oliver: Thank you.
Lisa: What do you think it is about Fargo that’s made it such
a fast fan favorite?
Oliver: You know, I think it’s a combination of the
storytelling and the style. There’s something so compelling
about exploring the menace and the loneliness beneath that
culture; the people that ostensibly are incredibly polite,
button down way of—the way that people relate to each other
on a superficial level. I think that there’s a fascination
to that, and then the fact that if good writing is
compelling sequences of events then Noah’s really got that
nailed.
Lisa: Great. Thank you so much.
Oliver: You bet.
Moderator: Thank you, and our next question comes from the
line of Eric Volmers with Calgary Herald. Please go ahead.
Eric: Hi, again. Noah Hawley recently referred to your
character as a typical Coen blustery autocrat with a very
inflated sense of self, and he used some examples; Nathan
Arizona, from Raising Arizona and the Big Lebowski character
from the Big Lebowski. Given that the Coen Brothers, their
humor, the way they use humor is very unique, did that
effect your performance, or did you let it all come from the
writing; like your timing and things like that?
Oliver: Yes, that’s usually the way you want to go about it,
is to let the writing tell you, inform your own sense
of—guide your own sense of rhythm, and it’s very much in
there. Yes. In the best case scenario you can’t see the
joke. You know what I mean? It’s just arising organically
out of what the conflict that’s been created between the
people in the scene, and the way the guy regards himself and
all this stuff. It’s happening on a lot of different levels,
and you just get on the horse and you ride.
Eric: Alright. Thank you.
Oliver: You bet.
Moderator: Thank you, and our next question comes from the
line of Greg Staffa with Your Entertainment. Please go
ahead.
Greg: Thank you. You have said in other interviews that your
family has kind of changed the way you approach certain
jobs; you’ve focused less on theatre over the years. You
have an amazing body of work, and I’m wondering, what is it
that you still find the challenges or the entertainment of
doing this, or is it more of a job for you? Do you still
feel like you did when you first started, that thrill of
doing this given that you’re doing a job where it’s negative
degrees for most of the filming? What do you find that still
brings the passion to you?
Oliver: You know, that’s a really great question. I consider
myself blessed that I—I just get a kick out of figuring out
what it is. The thing is, I’m just interested by the next
thing that comes along that’s probably—hopefully a little
bit different than something I just did, but it’s a
mysterious—the attraction is mysterious, and I don’t
necessarily understand it; I’m not sure I want to, but it’s
just something that I get a kick out of doing. I consider
myself lucky to continue to get opportunities to do it.
Greg: Thank you. I’ve enjoyed the first five episodes so far.
Oliver: Great.
Moderator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line
of Rodrigo Nogueira with Time Out Lisbon. Please go ahead.
Rodrigo: Okay. Your character is sort of an a-hole. I’ve been
watching you for decades, and I’ve been hearing you talk now
and you don’t seem like an a-hole. How do you approach
playing an a-hole?
Oliver: Well, the first key is that you don’t look at the
person that way, you look at the person, you say, how does
he think he’s helping, how does he think he’s making the
world better. You catch an actor judging the character that
they’re playing, and it’s not terribly interesting. Much
more importantly, I think that Noah appreciates those
aspects of “Stavros,” too. He has that perspective, and it’s
something that we talked about.
Rodrigo: It’s an amazing character name; “Stavros Milos.” His
name is a brilliant name, don’t you think so?
Oliver: Tell me how you think.
Rodrigo: I think it’s a great-sounding name, it’s like it’s
catchy.
Oliver: Oh, just phonetically?
Rodrigo: Phonetically, and it’s imposing. I think so.
Oliver: Yes.
Rodrigo: If I heard of the—it’s the name of king.
Oliver: Aptly named.
Rodrigo: Yes. Thank you.
Oliver: You bet.
Moderator: Our next question comes from the line of Suzanne
Lanoue with the TV MegaSite. Please go ahead.
Suzanne: Hi, again. I was wondering if you could tell us, do
we ever find out where that mysterious money came from?
Oliver: I’m not sure.
Suzanne: Okay. I understand. I hope the character comes to a
good end because I have a bad feeling, but then again, it’s
that kind of show.
Oliver: It certainly is.
Suzanne: Alright. I’m really enjoying it. I’m looking forward
to the rest of it. Thank you.
Oliver: You bet.
Moderator: Question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby with
SciFiVision. Please go ahead.
Jamie: Hi, again. Do you have a favorite scene that you can
talk about from, I guess, what’s aired so far so you don’t
spoil anything?
Oliver: Excuse me. Favorite scenes. The fact that I’m having
a hard time answering the question is a good sign, I think.
I’m sort of taking it all in. What’s your favorite scene?
Jamie: I think I like when your character kind of goes crazy
when he starts taking the wrong medicine.
Oliver: Right. You know, that’s a powerful, very entertaining
plot device there.
Jamie: Yes.
Kristy: Alright. With that said, thank you so much to
everyone for joining us today, and especially Oliver, we
really appreciate your time. As a reminder, Fargo airs
Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on FX. A
complete transcript of this call will be emailed to everyone
within approximately 72 hours, and you may now disconnect.
Thank you again, and have a great day.
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