Fargo TV Series 'Is Not Remake Of Coen Film'

British actor Martin Freeman has said the new television series of the Coen brothers' film Fargo is not a remake but "stands on its own".

The Hobbit star plays the nerdy insurance salesman Lester Nygaard in the 10 episode series, a character similar to that played by William H Macy in the 1996 film.

"It's our one. It's our one. You know we can't do the Coen brothers' film Fargo.That's already been done and they don't need us to do it either better or worse," he said at the show's premiere in New York.

"It has to stand on its own and I really believe it does. I think at some point during the first episode I think you stop thinking about 1996.

"I mean obviously it's a template and it's a fantastic jumping off point, because it's a truly brilliant film but we're not making that film. There'd be no point in remaking that film."

The show has a new story with different characters, but leans heavily on the frigid Minnesota setting, death, Midwestern folksiness and deadpan humour of its Oscar-winning namesake.

Billy Bob Thornton plays the dangerous drifter Lorne Malvo who arrives in a small town and influences the population with his malice and violence.

"Probably the only character I've ever played who has no conscience whatsoever, but he does have a sense of humour - albeit a kind of sick sense of humour but he does have a sense of humour. I'm just a sort of mysterious stranger from out of town and nobody quite knows what to think of me," Thornton said.

Like in Fargo the film, there is a female police officer - but this one's named Molly Solverson, played by newcomer Allison Tolman.

Fargo premieres in the US on the FX Network April 15 and in the UK on Channel 4 on April 20.