See the Coen brothers’ ‘Fargo’ cast, then and now

Frances McDormand (Marge Gunderson)

Frances McDormand won her first of three Academy Awards as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant police chief who cracks the case by doggedly following up on every clue and loose end.

McDormand “really wanted [Marge] to be good at her job,” as she said during a 2021 Fargo reunion. “So many women would come up to me and say, ‘I love seeing a woman good at her job. I’m good at my job.’ I mean, that’s not why they made the movie, but that was a nice side effect of it.”

The actress met her husband, Joel Coen, during an audition for the Coens’ debut, the neo-noir Blood Simple (1984). She got the part and has since regularly appeared in the duo’s films, including Raising Arizona (1987), The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), and Burn After Reading (2008), plus Joel’s solo effort, The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), as Lady Macbeth.

McDormand won two more Best Actress statuettes, first for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) and again for Nomadland (2020). The Academy has recognized her supporting work as well, nominating her for Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000), and North Country (2005). Her trophy case also includes a Tony, which she won for Good People in 2011, and an Emmy for the miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014).

The veteran actress has found a foothold in Wes Anderson’s company of actors, appearing in Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The French Dispatch (2021). Also of note is her key supporting role in Sarah Polley’s Women Talking (2022).

McDormand and Coen have been married since 1984; they have one son, Pedro.

William H. Macy (Jerry Lundegaard)

William H. Macy played Jerry Lundegaard, a bumbling car salesman who hires two men to kidnap his wife, setting off a deadly chain of events. 

Macy’s Oscar-nominated turn in Fargo was a role he was ready to fight for, telling EW in 2016, “I found out that they were auditioning in New York still, so I got my jolly, jolly Lutheran ass on an airplane and walked in and said, ‘I want to read again because I’m scared you’re going to screw this up and hire someone else.’ I actually said that. You know, you can’t play that card too often as an actor. Sometimes it just blows up in your face, but I said, ‘Guys, this is my role. I want this.’”

Macy began his career with appearances in David Mamet’s plays and has starred in several of Mamet’s films, including the acclaimed Homicide (1991) and the controversial Oleanna (1994).

Fargo brought Macy bigger roles, including tragicomic turns in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ensemble epics Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999), as well as Air Force One (1997), Pleasantville (1998), Mystery Men (1999), Jurassic Park III (2001). In recent years, he played Brie Larson’s father in Room (2015) and had a memorable mo-cap performance in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024).

The small screen has been kind to him as well. After a regular gig on ER (1994–1998) and a recurring spot on Aaron Sorkin’s Sports Night (1999–2000), Macy took on the lead role of irresponsible dad Frank Gallagher in Showtime’s dysfunctional family dramedy Shameless (2011–2021), earning six Emmy nominations.

Macy married actress Felicity Huffman in 1997. They have two daughters, Sophia and Georgia.

Steve Buscemi (Carl Showalter)

Steve Buscemi was the mouthy, trigger-happy Carl Showalter, who’s described as funny-looking “in a general kind of way.” The part was written specifically for Buscemi, who had worked with the Coens in Miller’s Crossing and Barton Fink. Buscemi joked about Joel telling him, “’Your character is gonna be a very good-looking guy'” in Fargo.

Buscemi’s early films included Parting Glances (1986) and Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train (1989) before his breakout role as “Mr. Pink” in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992). The ex-firefighter has been in high demand ever since. He was part of the main trio in Airheads (1994) and has since been an Adam Sandler regular. The Coens gave him another signature role as poor, out-of-his-element Donny in The Big Lebowski (1998), and he booked supporting work in blockbusters Con Air (1997) and Armageddon (1998).

The actor earned his first Golden Globe nomination for Ghost World (2001) and has stolen scenes in everything from Tim Burton’s Big Fish (2003) to The Messenger (2009). Meanwhile, his distinctive voice has been put to use in the likes of Monsters Inc. (2001) and Charlotte’s Web (2006).

The New York native delivered an Emmy-nominated performance as Tony Soprano’s cousin on season 5 of The Sopranos (2004), then headlined his own underworld epic, the Prohibition-era Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014), earning two Emmy nods and a Golden Globe. In recent years, Buscemi played Khrushchev in the pitch-black satire The Death of Stalin (2017) and was a regular on TBS’ Miracle Workers (2019–2023). Coming up, we’ll see him in season 2 of Netflix’s supernatural hit Wednesday.

Buscemi and filmmaker Jo Andres married in 1987, remaining together until her death in 2019. The couple had a son, Lucian.

Peter Stormare (Gaear Grimsrud)

Peter Stormare was the laconic Gaear Grimsrud, a ruthless gun-for-hire who learned you can’t solve all your problems with a woodchipper.

Recalling that famously climactic scene, he told EW in 2016, “It was a prop leg, a prosthetic. They asked me to push the leg down with my hand. I remember this vividly because I’m a country boy. I said, ‘I can’t push it down with my hand, unless I’m a moron.’ So I took a piece of firewood.”

The Swedish actor, who in 1986 captured attention in legendary fellow Swede Ingmar Bergman’s production of Hamlet, has continued appearing on American screens since breaking out in Fargo. Many will recognize him as a big-dino hunter in The Lost World (1997), a German nihilist in The Big Lebowski, a diabolical black-market eye surgeon in Minority Report (2002), or the devil himself in Constantine (2005).

For years, he’s moved between arthouse fare like Dancer in the Dark (2000) to big-budget studio films like Bad Boys II (2003), 22 Jump Street (2014), and John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017). He’s also worked on the small screen, booking roles on Prison Break (2005–2007), Longmire (2014–2017), and American Gods (2017–2021).

Stormare was married to actress Karen Sillas from 1989 to 2006; he married his second wife, Toshimi Murakami, in 2008. They have a daughter, Kaiya.

Harve Presnell (Wade Gustafson)

Harve Presnell was Wade Gustafson, Jerry’s rock-ribbed father-in-law who insisted on handling his daughter’s kidnapping on his own. 

For Presnell, this was just the seventh movie role. His career was primarily as a singer, including opera and musical theater. That led to occasional big-screen work, namely reprising his lead stage role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), but it wasn’t until Fargo that he traded in his regular Broadway and West End work for character roles in Hollywood.

He subsequently appeared in Face/Off (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Old School (2003), and Flags of Our Fathers (2006). He also booked recurring TV roles on Lois & Clark (1995–1997), The Pretender (1997–2000), and Dawson’s Creek (1999–2000).

Presnell was married to Sheryl Mae Green from 1957 to 1966, before marrying his second wife, Veeva Hamblen, in 1966. In 2009, the actor died from pancreatic cancer, at age 75. He had six children.

John Carroll Lynch (Norm Gunderson)

John Carroll Lynch played Norm Gunderson, Marge’s doting husband (and modest postage-stamp artist) who always made sure she got enough to eat during her pregnancy. He told IndieWire, “Fargo was the film that actually made me a legitimate film actor, so I will always cherish it.”

Following Fargo, Lynch began a long-running role on The Drew Carey Show (1997–2004) as Drew’s brother Steve. He’s also been a regular on FX’s anthology American Horror Story (2014–2019), playing Twisty the Clown in the “Freak Show” season and serial killer Mr. Jingles in the “1984” story.

Contemporary audiences may know him best from David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007) as Arthur Leigh Allen, one of the real-life case’s prime suspects. Elsewhere, Lynch has appeared in Shutter Island (2010), Gran Torino (2008), as Lyndon B. Johnson in Jackie (2016), and as one of the McDonald brothers in The Founder (2016). He was recently seen in ABC’s twisty thriller Big Sky (2020–2022) and the Watergate miniseries Gaslit (2022).

Lynch has been married to actress Brenda Wehle since 1997.

Kristin Rudrüd (Jean Lundegaard)

Kristin Rudrüd was Jean Lundegaard, the target of her husband’s fake kidnapping scheme.

Rudrüd is a native of Fargo, N.D., and the film was her first big-screen appearance. She later had small parts in Pleasantville, the satirical mockumentary Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), and booked a guest role on Chicago Hope (1997). 

Rudrüd and her husband still live in Fargo. They have one daughter.

Steve Park (Mike Yanagita)

Steve Park was Mike Yanagita, who had an extremely awkward lunch date with his old high-school pal Marge.

Reflecting on his small but unforgettable part, Park told EW in 2021, “The idea of limited screen time never occurred to me. I was working on a Coen brothers film, for God’s sake; it was such a huge deal for me. I put everything I had into it.”

Park’s first feature role was in Spike Lee’s iconic film Do the Right Thing (1989). He became a featured performer on the Wayans brothers’ sketch series In Living Color (1991–1992) and has maintained a strong résumé ever since.

He returned to the Coens’ stable for the surrealist A Serious Man (2009), appeared in Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer (2013), and had a memorable turn in Asteroid City (2023). His television roles include Elementary (2012–2013) and The Mindy Project (2014–2015).

The New York native married actress and fellow comedy vet Kelly Coffield in 1999. They have a son, Owen, and a daughter, Eliza.

Steve Reevis (Shep Proudfoot)

Steve Reevis played Shep Proudfoot, the Native American mechanic who vouched for Gaear and put a whoopin’ on Carl.

Reevis’ first onscreen appearance was a bit part in Twins (1988), and he played a non-speaking role in Kevin Costner’s Best Picture-winning film Dances With Wolves (1990). He has frequently acted in Westerns, including Geronimo: An American Legend (1993) and Ron Howard’s The Missing (2003).

He also popped up in Adam Sandler’s remake of The Longest Yard (2005) and episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger (1997–1999), Malcolm in the Middle (2002), and Bones (2005).

Reevis and his wife, Macile, had four children: sons Joseph, Kyiyo, and Pikuni, and daughter Taywanee. He died in 2017, at age 55.

Tony Denman (Scotty Lundegaard)

Tony Denman played Scotty Lundegaard, Jerry and Jean’s teenage son.

He said in 2021 that he continues to be recognized: “Even as a 40-year-old man, I’m still the kid from Fargo. I’m happy to embrace it because, we were just kind of saying, how could you ever be in a better film?”

Denman’s big-screen work includes Go (1999), Sorority Boys (2002), and several National Lampoon films. He’s also appeared in episodes of Angel (1999), Judging Amy (2002), and King of the Hill (2003–2004). 

The Minnesota native was previously married to British actress Sarah-Jane Potts. He married his second wife, Amy, in 2011.

Larry Brandenburg (Stan Grossman)

Larry Brandenburg played Stan Grossman, Wade’s no-nonsense lawyer. 

Brandenburg is a character actor whose movie roles include Field of Dreams (1989) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994).

He’s been a familiar face on TV as well, including parts in NYPD Blue (1994–1998), Ally McBeal (1997–1999), Cheers (1992), and NCIS (2010).