‘Fargo’ Creator Noah Hawley On Cracking Trump Nation Inspired Season 5 & How ‘Alien’ Series Pays Homage To 1979 Ridley Scott Movie – Crew Call Podcast

When it came to delivering one of the most twisted and politically thrilling Fargo seasons ever, creator Noah Hawley says it didn’t entail him ripping up a ton of scripts to get there.

“I’m a big believer that the first idea is a good idea,” says the Primetime Emmy winner, “I trust my instincts.”

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His trick: Plow through, no writers’ block.

Season 5 centers around Juno Temple’s Dot Lyon. While it appears she’s just a simple homemaker, she has a dark past that’s connected to Jon Hamm’s red state, criminal rancher, Roy Tillman. Not to mention, beware those who even try to murder her. Complicating life more is Dot’s notorious debt financing mother-in-law played, Lorraine Lyon, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh.

You can listen to our latest chat with Hawley below:

Hawley’s other great talent is giving Fargo an auteurish feel, even though he doesn’t direct every episode. This past season, he only helmed the first two episodes, “The Tragedy of the Commons” and “Trials and Tribulations”.

But what happens when he’s offset?

“I get in the editing room and if something’s not working, I’ll turn into a silent movie if that fixes the problem — which I did on Legion with one scene where I was like, ‘Oh, this feels like a B-movie. Everyone’s overacting. What should I do?’ And then I was like, ‘Well, if I take the sound out and I put in the silent movie title cards, now the larger-than-life performance feels like it’s right for the thing.’ So, I’ll definitely reinvent in the editing room,” says the creator.

We also twist Hawley’s arm to provide an update of his Alien series and the next season of Fargo. At TCA, FX Boss John Landgraf mentioned that the sixth season of Fargo hinges on Hawley’s work with Alien.

Hawley splains about his Alien priorities, “They’re saying maybe don’t do two things at once on this show…their hope is to put a season two as close to season one as possible.”

He further explains that while he’s finished directing on Alien, production continues until July. Natch, a 2025 premiere date is eyed given the heavy VFX required for the show.

On Ridley Scott’s involvement, Hawley said there was an initial conversation during the conceptual stage, but the filmmaker has been hands off (“In the four years it’s taken me to launch this show, he’s made how many movies?”)

What can we expect in Hawley’s Alien?

“What I said to Ridley is ‘I’m adapting your movie.’,” says Hawley, “I had to make a decision — retro futurism or Prometheus? And I chose retro-futurism. When I close my eyes and you say Alien to me, I see that green Ascii text. You know, I hear that sound. I see that keyboard with the weird Egyptian ruins on it. I see those hallways.”

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