'Fargo' Emmy FYC event: Red carpet interviews with Jon Hamm, Jennifer Jason Leigh and more

how are you very well so John I have to hear like when you're working and collaborating obviously so closely with Noah the EP on this project like how much are you able to personally intermix like from you is it just listen this is Noah's Vision I'm hitting the ground running with it the ability to do so is there uh the desire to do so really isn't because putting myself in the hands of someone like Noah this is the third project I've work on with Noah so uh I'm very trustworthy you know I know I'm in good hands and it's not just Noah it's Warren Littlefield it's everybody in FX you can look around this room and there's quite a few hit shows here that most of them are on FX so they know what they're doing too and I think a big part of collaborating is knowing when to speak up but also knowing when to say I'm just here to do it and um I've always been able to walk that line pretty well so um with something like this the the the the U the story was so well realized on the page every every script we got I was like oh this is this is just it's it's all there there's no I don't no notes you know so and to be able to play a character like Roy was tremendous and exciting and an opportunity that I knew I was going to make the most of really quick John I'm so interested to hear from you the somewhat dark elements of Roy like what is it really take for you to dig in so deep and like pull that aspect of the character out part of well the really interesting thing was I was shooting this show all from October to March of 2022 2023 and the same time I was shooting the morning show so I was I was going back and forth from LA to Calgary LA to Calgary doing two very different characters um and on in two very different experiences so it was tricky you know to kind of to kind of keep bouncing back and forth between those two extremes really um but like I said I think that it's not that hard to get there when the when it's so well realized on the page I had that experience with working on Mad Men for so many years with Matthew's writing if it's if it's so well executed you just have to kind of get out of the way and make sure that that that you just it flows right through you and that's how it felt on this yeah and I love that you just mentioned flow because especially yeah two totally different shows Faro the morning show I'm obsessed with the morning show like how do you find basically the balance with managing all of the ABS and flows that come along with all of these projects that you take on it just Hollywood in general well I just got off of I got off of a set at 4 4:00 in the morning in New York City and got on a plane to come here so listen I I was saying to somebody else just a moment ago the alternative is is nobody's talking about what you're doing and you're not working hard so I love working hard I love getting to do what I do um my dad used to tell me if if if you're having fun at at what you do then it's not work and and so I've always thought that and and I I remember when I was an actor coming to events like these on the other side of the camera and I'm sitting in the audience watching things and waiting for the phone to ring so I'm I'm I'm making hay while the sun shines before the robots take all our jobs so there you go before I let you go season five you got to give me a little bit about this NECA scene of yours like what's that effort I mean it's it's literally not a conversation if we don't talk about it first and foremost were the nipple Pearsons real they were not those were Prosthetics believe it or not yeah they were they were they were they were did not have to go full full method fortunately uh and the sitting fortunately we shot the hot tub scene very early in the in the uh in the season because it was still like October so it wasn't quite 20 below zero in uh in Calgary although it did eventually get down that cold um but it was it was a nice balmy day and I just sat in the hot tub all day it wasn't too bad it was kind of a nice yeah if I got out I would have got cold so God yeah it was good it was fun thank you so much John thank you all so Jennifer of course I have to ask this Fargo awardwinning hit series like what has this entire Journey been like for you and I'm so interested to hear like what have you absolutely loved the most starting back from the original version of Fargo including the installments that you're a part of oh my God that's almost an impossible question for me because first of all I loved the original film I didn't think when I heard there was a series being made I thought that sounded impossible and then I I watched the first installment and I was blown away because it's so it feels so right and it feels completely its own and that's an incredible thing to accomplish I feel like and every single year that it came back on it was a new discovery right and such great characters and characters that really surprise you and the humor and the violence like all of it I just I love that I love the tone of it and the surprises so I was really thrilled I still can't sort of believe that I'm in it um well yeah just because it's a you know when you really admire something and you you want to be a part of it you even when it happens you like a Pion moment yeah yeah a little bit Yeah me about meshing so very well together and working on screen with Juno because I like to call you guys like sort of like the dynamic duo I just love the energy that the both of you bring to this series like what has that entire process been like working with Juno on Fargo Juno's just incredible to work with she's very very passionate she really brings herself to it she really cares and she's just the loveliest person she's so warm with everyone and kind and thoughtful and we would get together before we would the Night Before Our scenes or even three nights before our scenes and just work through them and talk and hang out together and um yeah she's the most lovely and if you tell Juno something even just some random story she will remember it yeah and in the tid bit about Jun personally yeah just In Like A really lovely way like she's very observant and she's very thoughtful um yeah before I let you go over the duration of your entire television career what characters have you most enjoyed playing and portraying if you can choose like your top two to three oh yikes um well this one for sure okay for sure and um I it's hard to like pull out but I would say like probably the first big break I had was a TV movie about anorexia called the best little girl in the world so that has a special place in my heart just because was sort of um was a big deal yeah um and I'm sure there's others but they're just not those are the first things that come to mind well thank you so much Jennifer thank you thank you have a great day you too Noah Noah so it's such a pleasure to speak with you you are are like a legendary showrunner writer executive producer novelist all of things I am so interested to hear when you're working on all of these many projects because you've written 51 episodes of Fargo yes I want to say 43 episodes of Legion and correct me if I'm wrong I believe 27 episodes of Bones my thing is is that when you're working on all of these projects are overlapping between shows and if so like how have you been able to perfect like multitask into this multitude there there are times where I'm doing two things at once because also there's books that I'm writing and features and the the hardest was I was I had a reg room going for Fargo season 3 and Legion season two at the same time and those shows are very different so to walk down the hall and switch mindsets was not easy so but I would just tend to sit and listen and let my brain get engaged by what the conversation was but um yeah it's you know you either have the the mentality to to jump back and forth or you or you don't I I know it's not for everyone uh I just get excited about ideas and stories and and so people say how about a Marvel show and I say yes and how about an alien show and I go that's interesting what would I do with that so this is so interesting because we're here yet on another red carpet and obviously for fyc me season specifically with Fargo but if I'm not mistaken no you were a political science major in college and you also years ago worked as a legal aid for child abuse and neglect how do we get here talk to me just really briefly about your journey to you know basically come in as far as you have today well so I grew up with a my mother was a writer and her mother was a writer so I'm a third generation New York writer um and my mother wrote non-fiction books about uh child abuse uh domestic violence and you know so I grew up having substantive conversations you know and living with artists and and so that world of of figuring out what the world is by writing it um was was taught to me very early so you know as I had the these experiences working at Family Court in New York you know these are days that you go home and you've seen just a lot of real poverty and misery with people and you have to figure out how to process that and what it means and and you know so if I think of you look at my work a lot of it is how are we treating each other how are we treating children you know I did this fourth season of Fargo with Chris Rock and and um and I said to all the directors if you want to know who's moral in the show look at their relationship to a child right and you could always tell it's like Jason schwarzman he had Chris Rock's son in the house but he didn't eat at the dinner table with them right but Chris took that kid in he sat at the table with his own kids so for me it's it's it's you know trying to do meaningful things without Being Earnest about it interesting to hear that because it sounds like you still like find a way quite naturally to intermix you know your previous experience working with child abuse and neglect with being not only a novelist but an executive producer and show run it that's so interesting to me yeah and as I've had kids I mean I I look back to the just to the book that I wrote when when my daughter was you know was just being born it was all my parental anxieties projected into this into this book and but it it does I I do track each season of Television each each film sort of centered around you know how we treat each other and and how we um how how can we expect our kids to grow up to be good people if we don't raise them right yeah and before I let you go just briefly tell me when it comes to risk like some of what are some of the risks that you've taken not only as a novelist but also as an executive producer and a showrunner well I mean let's for example making a TV show out of Fargo one of the most beloved movies of all time terrible idea right but liberating right because I figured two people would watch it and one would be hate watching it and and but it liberated me to say all right well it's not that I want a 10-minute Parable um but it is a c Brothers movie right and and I always love that moment walking on set for the first time and thinking this could go horribly right like this idea the execution of it it's it just shows you that that um you got to show up with your full game right to get it right and you and you got to be fully present every day and and uh I like that the sort of Highwire AC ofate I love all of your words thank you so much for chatting let me know of course thank you take care Warren so you are like the man of the hour in addition to these other men on his carpet thank I am so interested to hear when it comes to your career because you've worked on shows such as Seinfield of course ER friends the reason why we're here a Fargo the list goes on and on and on like how would you say that your career has like mirrored the many shifts when it comes to the television industry and Hollywood in general well you know I spent 20 years at a network and um so my creative career was defined by what we did at the network and I'm proud to say that Looking Back Now at those shows from the mustsee television era they really they hold up they were good and I I think they were good because we respected the audience and when I went into a new phase of life for my new chapter I tried to carry that forward and I I then realized that I was spending more and more time watching platforms that weren't networks um but I was watching cable um and then ultimately streaming was where my mind went to right and so I just kept trying to keep the bar High um respect the audience and believe that they'll go places with you they have the same intellectual curiosity that I have and um and so I like taking chances I like taking big leaps so whether that's the old man whether that's dopesick whether that's handmaid's tail or Faro Noah Noah loves to test us to see are we up for what he comes up with each year in Fargo and I think we were fueled by that so um so I keep I keep giving the audience a lot of credit and that seems to serve me well and I'm having a lot of fun speaking of Fargo The Reason again that we're here I can't reiterate that enough I know that the overall tone for the Fargo I'm just going to say BR right because Fargo has been around for countless of years I know that that was of the utmost importance not only you but the entire team of producers directors writers so on and so forth when it comes to the creative approach taking how have you been able to basically keep that tone consistent and also authentic when it comes to ouro well we honor the Cohen Brothers because they did the original film um and Fargo 5 in some ways is a little bit of an homage to the film in the film Bill Macy's wife is kidnapped and he's a part of that and Noah asked himself well what if we took that wife and she was the center of our story because she she's basically not in the movie she is a victim and in Noah's conceptualization of what that character might be we have dot um Juno Temple she is not a victim right she has mysteries from her past she's a part of a kidnapping um but um Noah creates his own character and I think that's part of what's exciting so for us if you look at all the actors for all the seasons of Fargo they're all friends of Comedy they can play great drama but they also have to understand how to also find comedy Fargo 5 thematically we're dealing with spousal abuse pretty heavy stuff so can we navigate an honesty and Truth to that story and also still have the humor of Fargo and so that scares us yeah right yeah but we were able to pull that off because no is a brilliant writer and our cast you know from from John to Juno and Jennifer they're amazing and they were able to navigate that so that there was an honesty and integrity to the drama and also make you smile before I let you go this Fargo series is an award winning series 263 Award nominations 64 of which I believe have resulted into award wins six of those wins Prime Time Emy Awards what would another Emmy nomination and a just a couple of more Amy WIS mean for you I love it I I cherish it I'm fueled by it you know we um we like living in a world where Fargo is celebrated um so it means a hell of a lot to me because I think no and I started this journey a dozen years ago we just hit the 10th anniversary of when Fargo W premiered um the bar has gotten higher higher and higher and higher the Excellence of Television so to have our peers say you know what you have an Emmy nomination maybe even a win that means a lot is huge anything you can share about this TV Festival you're going to be a part of this upcoming fall in August uh well I'm just anything I'm thrilled to be a part of the game I love uh I love staying relevant and still being in it I love it thank you so much thank you so much thank you [Music]