F/XNot gonna lie. We teared up a bit upon hearing the news today that Fargo would be back, but the show's season one cast would not be.
They were just so good.
And we aren't the only ones feeling the burn.
"It is bittersweet," Billy Bob Thornton told me of leaving the show after only one season. "I loved doing this show and I loved playing the character, and I am sad that that this is it for me."
Thornton "knew from the very beginning that it would be 10 episodes and that would be it." But the news of season two casting was a long time coming for Billy's co-star Allison Tolman (Molly), who revealed on the day of her first Emmy nomination (July 10) that she still didn't know whether she would be returning. "It's stressful," she told me, "because I don't know and I haven't known for months. I would be so lucky to do anything again with that group of people. If the next season happens and it doesn't involve Molly and therefore doesn't involve me, I'll be disappointed but I trust this team to be coming up with the best television that they can and if that means that they can't bring us back again, then I wouldn't want them to. So I will be watching as a fan and I'll be looking forward to my next thing."
The big question now: What is that next thing? Wherever Thornton and Tolman go next, it will make headlines, since both are Emmy nominees and Tolman is arguably the biggest breakout star of the year, having come from relative oblivion to an Emmy nomination.
Clearly, the casting directors will (or should) come knocking. But what do Billy Bob and Alison want to do?
"I don't know what my next dream role gig is," Tolman told me, "but I have so so many shows that I'm like, ‘Oh my god, can I guest star on New Girl?! Like, that would be amazing!" Can I please guest star and be a zombie on The Walking Dead? And then there are the shows that my friends are fans of. My boyfriend loves Archer. He's a crazy Archer fan. So he's like, ‘Please do a guest spot on Archer!' And I'm like, hey, I'll do my best."
Thornton revealed that he would love to join HBO's Boardwalk Empire with his "friend" Steve Buscemi, another Fargo alum, of course, from the movie. "That is an excellent show and I have worked with Steve before," Thornton said.
Clearly the Fargo cast find themselves in an odd place, having experienced so much critical acclaim, and now a slew of Emmy nominations (18 total), only to find themselves jobless.
"Hopefully something else will come along," Thornton said.. "I don't have another job right now. And I hope the dry spell is not as long this time around."
"It's hard to figure out what the next right role is," Tolman added, "when you've done one that is so fully formed and so well received. You have to be really careful to do it justice, to do the right next thing."
We'll be waiting.