5 Facts About the Stussy Brothers on Fargo (As Told By Ewan McGregor)

A sibling feud between the Stussy Brothers on Fargo propels the narrative in Year 3 of the anthology drama. Who are these brothers? Let Ewan McGregor fill you in on the details.

Fargo Year 3 is primed to give viewers a double dose of Ewan McGregor. Playing both Ray and Emmit Stussy, McGregor provides the backbone for the story in the third installment of FX’s crime anthology series. And it’s going to be one wild ride.

On a recent conference call with press ahead of the premiere, McGregor chatted with reporters about how he brought each character to life, how Emmit and Ray’s perspectives differ, and how he tackled that famously tough mid-Western accent.

FARGO — Year 3 — Pictured: Ewan McGregor as Ray Stussy. CR: Chris Large/FX Acquired from FX Networks Press Room.

One – Getting Into Character

Setting two distinctive personalities for the Stussy Brothers was no easy feat. McGregor explained the process by stating, “playing two very different people in the same piece has proven to be a great challenge. The actual business end of playing them both has been very interesting. I had a great deal of help from Gail Kennedy who is the head of makeup, and between Noah, myself, and Gail we came up with the look for both brothers.”

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Aside from prosthetics, McGregor had to transform his body into the rotund form of Ray Stussy, which wasn’t all pleasant. McGregor says, “I was at the peak of my fitness ever I think, and I sat down with Noah Hawley at a restaurant in L.A. and we started talking about Ray and Emmit and Ray specifically, and how he had to be heavier. I suggested that we sort of use a prosthetic piece under my chin, right around my neck to give me some weight. And he sort of looked at me and said, ‘You need to put on weight.’ And I ordered a massive dessert and started putting on weight from that second onwards.”

However, while Ray is a doughy guy, Emmit is trim. This presented a few issues that were creatively solved with a famous garment. McGregor said, “I wear Spanx when I play Emmit and it’s a really unbelievably compressing T-shirt that I had help getting into and getting out of, and it makes Emmit less heavy looking. As an actor, I like to work from the inside out. And once I was in those clothes, like the Spanx keep me more in my body and keep me more upright. Ray wears cowboy boots, and with that and the extra weight and the padding, the cowboy boots make you walk in a different way than normal shoes. Ray is heavy and I’ve used that in his posture, and Emmit is the opposite.”

FARGO — Pictured: Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Nikki Swango. CR: Matthias Clamer/FX. Acquired from FX Networks Press Room.

Two – Love is in the Air

According to McGregor, the two Stussy brothers on Fargo have very different approaches to love.

"“It looks like Ray is unhappy, until of course he meets Nikki Swango (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Ray is the embodiment of somebody who’s falling in love, and that’s what makes him so lovely to play. Whereas Emmit is far less soulful, far less heart in him. Although he’s a faithful husband, and he loves his family, but it’s sort of in a businessman’s fashion. He’s got his work, and family is important to him, but it’s in a structural way, a far less soulful way. And Ray is an unlikely character to be falling in love. In any other movie or TV series, he might not look the way he does playing that kind of character. For him, it’s far from petty.”"

FARGO — Year 3 — Pictured (l-r): Michael Stuhlbarg as Sy Feltz, Ewan McGregor as Emmit Stussy. CR: Chris Large/FX Acquired from FX Networks Press Room.

Three – Family Feud

Love has everything to do with the catalyst for the feud between the brothers. McGregor says:

"“It’s a very old fable, isn’t it? It’s a very old idea. Two brothers fighting over a birthright. Though it doesn’t feel very petty to either of them. It feels more petty to Emmit because Emmit’s had a successful life and is well off and is a very rich man. He’s satisfied with his life. Ray is the opposite. He’s not satisfied with his life. He’s had a very hard time of it.”“For Ray, because he’s in love with Nikki and because he’s decided that he wants to give her everything, this grievance with his brother is the reason he can’t give her what he wants to give her. And yes, it’s a fight over a stamp, but the stakes are high for him.”"

FARGO — Pictured: Ewan McGregor as Emmit Stussy. CR: Matthias Clamer/FX Acquired from FX Networks Press Room.

Four – The Accent, Dontcha Know?

McGregor admits that he struggled with the famed Fargo accent, but that he found similarities in familiar places.

"“I have that tricky Fargo accent to tackle. Which is difficult for a Brit. It’s probably also difficult for an American person, but it’s even more complicated for a British person because there are a lot of sounds that sound quite Scottish, so that can lead me to think that I’m getting it wrong. Then some of it sounds quite Irish and I’m very familiar with the Irish accent, so sometimes I feel like I’m doing a bad Irish accent. That’s been tricky enough on its own, but of course I had to have a voice for Emmit and a voice for Ray. But just by playing the scenes and how I feel as Emmit and Ray, although they’re similar as they might be because they’re brothers, they have different sounds like two different people.”"

FARGO — Pictured: Ewan McGregor as Ray Stussy. CR: Matthias Clamer/FX Acquired from FX Networks Press Room.

Five – Playing Favorites

While Ewan McGregor doesn’t have a favorite brother, he thinks that one of the Stussy brothers is going to surely emerge as a fan favorite… at least based on crew response.

"“In terms of my preference of character, it’s as fun to play the negative sides of Emmit as it is to play the positive sides of Ray. As an actor, they’re both very satisfying to do. I mean I love Ray because he’s so loveable and he’s such an oddball, and when we see him with his convicts he works with, he can be a complete dick to them, and he’s not a very patient or nice guy, but when he’s with Nikki, he’s completely transformed. There’s something kind of hard about him that’s being softened by his love for Nikki. And Emmit, in this Trump era, it’s interesting to play this capitalist, soulless man. I don’t really have a favorite. The crew prefers Ray, for sure. You can tell that the crew will really like it when Ray’s on set, probably more so than Emmit is.”"

‘Fargo’ Year 3 premieres Wednesday, April 19th at 10/9c on FX.

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