Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton will topline FX’s limited series take on “Fargo.”
FX announced on Friday (August 1) morning that Thornton will play Lorne Malvo in the “Fargo” project, which isn’t so much an adaptation of the Joel & Ethan Coen classic as a separate narrative that exists in the same storytelling world.
The network describes Thornton’s role as “a rootless, manipulative man who meets a small town insurance salesman and sets him on a path of destruction.”
The Coen Brothers are serving as producers on the “Fargo” series, which will begin production on its 10-episode run this fall in Canada, for a spring 2014 premiere. Noah Hawley (“The Unusuals”) wrote the pilot script.
At FX’s Television Critics Association press tour panel on Friday morning, FX CEO John Landgraf explained that “Fargo” will be a close-ended 10-episode story and that although it might be possible to tell more stories in this common universe, it’s unlikely that the characters from this series will continue.
Thornton has been nominated for acting Oscars for “Sling Blade” and “A Simple Plan” and won an Oscar for his “Sling Blade” script. His TV credits include “Hearts Afire” and “The Puppy Episode” of “Ellen.”