Kirsten Dunst to star in next ‘Fargo’ season, a prequel

BY PATRICK RYAN

Gannett News Service

Kirsten Dunst is heading to the small screen, and she may want to pack a parka.

The actress will star in the second season of FX’s”Fargo” with “Breaking Bad’s” Jesse Plemons when the anthology series returns in fall 2015.

In the new season, Dunst will play Peggy Blomquist, a small-town beautician struggling to find herself and mesh with societal norms. Plemons will star as her husband, Ed, a butcher’s assistant who tries to support his wife, despite not always understanding her.

The 10-episode run will be a prequel to the first installment of “Fargo,” which premiered in April and starred Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton. Set nearly 30 years beforehand, the new season will take place in 1979 in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Luverne, Minn., where state police officer Lou Solverson (still to be cast) will tackle a new crime case.

His wife, Betsy, and fellow officer, Ben Schmidt, will also be featured in the new episodes, as will his four-year-old daughter, Molly (played as a grown-up by Chicago actress Allison Tolman in the first batch of “Fargo” episodes).

Loosely based on the 1996 Coen Brothers film, “Fargo’s” first season was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards and won three, including outstanding miniseries, direction (Colin Bucksey) and casting (Rachel Tenner).