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Andrew Bird cast in ‘Fargo’ season four, alongside Chris Rock

by Colleen Cowie

July 18, 2019

Earlier today, FX announced the new cast members who will join Chris Rock in the fourth season of the TV show Fargo. The list includes actors like Jason Schwartzman and Ben Winshaw — and musician Andrew Bird. Production begins this fall, and the season will air on FX in 2020.

Bird will join the murder-filled Midwestern series as the character Thurman Smutney, a part that was written specifically for him. "I’m flattered and excited to be asked to be in the cast of Fargo," he said in a press release, Pitchfork reported. "I’m a fan of the show and its smart writing, inspired casting, and great acting."

The season takes place in 1950 in Kansas City, Missouri and follows two criminal organizations — one Italian and one African American — as they vie for power. Chris Rock stars as one of the organization's heads, who has "surrendered his youngest boy to his enemy, and who must in turn raise his enemy’s son as his own." According to FX, "It’s a story of immigration and assimilation, and the things we do for money."

Fargo began as an Oscar-winning 1996 movie by St. Louis Park natives Joel and Ethan Coen; despite its title, the film was largely set and filmed in Minnesota. The TV series, which premiered on FX in 2014, is inspired by the setting and dark comic atmosphere of the movie but tells original stories about new characters. Though much of the series has been set in Minnesota, it's largely filmed in Canada.

For a deeper dive on the past two seasons of Fargo, check out Aw Jeez: a Fargo recap podcast hosted by Tracy Mumford and The Current's Jay Gabler.

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