Fargo TV Series: Martin Freeman talks about his role as Lester Nygaard

Martin Freeman in Fargo - Channel 4

Channel 4

To wet your appetite (as if it wasn’t already) for their brand-new comedy crime-drama series Fargo, Channel 4 have today released this video interview with star Martin Freeman, who plays lead character Lester Nygaard.

Talking about his character, Martin says: “Lester Nygaard is a man in a loveless marriage doing a fairly boring job quite badly and he’s basically a victim. He’s been bullied in his life and he continues to be bullied by his wife, and we see quite early on that he meets up with an old acquaintance from school who also bullies him and humiliates him again, which leads him to go into the emergency room where he meets Lorne Malvo, played by Billy Bob Thornton.

As a result of their encounter, Lester leaves the hospital with a slightly, not consciously a different perspective on life, but unconsciously a thought that maybe he doesn’t have to be bullied by life and maybe he doesn’t have to take everything lying down.”

Speaking about how he chose to play the role of Lester, Martin continued: “I approached it as someone who, well just that, someone who’s had enough of taking life lying down.”

Here’s the full Channel 4 video interview with Martin Freeman, including preview clips of the upcoming series:

The video ends with an iconic quote from the show as Lorne Malvo tells Lester: “If you don’t stand up to it, let them know you’re still an ape, deep down where it counts, you’re just gonna get washed away.”

The new Fargo TV series is a dark comedy-drama based on the Coen brothers 1996 Oscar-winning film of the same name.

Premiering in the UK on Channel 4 at 9:00pm on Sunday, the 20th of April, 2014, viewers will be treated to a full 10-episode-long season.