Mary
Elizabeth
WinsteadSource

Flare.com visited Mary on the set of FX’s Fargo recently where she talked about how she immediately said yes to Noah Hawley’s new project before reading a script, how much she loves playing the role of Nikki Swango, and how much she loves working with her co-star Ewan McGregor. Click the link above read about one of her crazier on set moments and staying warm day after day while filming:

I love how all the seasons of Fargo feature super strong women, from our beloved Molly Solverson to Floyd Gerhardt. Why were you were drawn to Nikki Swango?
I was very excited to be on the show partly for that reason. I said yes before I even knew what the part was, which I’ve never done before. Noah and I had a little relationship of having a couple meetings over the years and so he personally reached out to me and I just went, “Yes! Absolutely. Whatever it is.” And so, I knew whatever it was going to be great. I had no doubt about that and then I read the role and it was just so unexpected for me to be cast in it, for one thing.

How come?
I just don’t usually get offered these roles of women who lead with their sex appeal.

Why do you think that is?

It’s something I steered away from for a long time, so I think people just don’t associate that with me. Now I’m more comfortable playing those roles because I don’t feel as nervous about falling into some trap. And I certainly don’t feel nervous about that in this role because I know that there is no character who is just one thing and that’s very much the case with Nikki. She’s crafty and alluring and she’s like a cat. She’s also very hopeful and optimistic and full of positivity and life. It’s not like this standard femme fatale kind of thing; she’s actually very sweet at the core of it. Being able to play all those layers has been so great. I feel so lucky.

What are some of the ways you and Ewan have crafted a fresh relationship you haven’t seen on-screen before?

We fell into it pretty naturally. We just have such a good time together in the scenes and a lot of that speaks to the writing because it’s supposed to be that they’re totally head over heels for each other. When I’m playing Nikki, I feel that so much for him with the prosthetics and the hair and all. I’m just so in love with him and we feel that energy that those characters are meant to feel for each other, which is that they really come together and feed off one another and she gives him this positivity that he needs to really feel like the man that he wants to be. She gets to call the shots and always be one step ahead, which is where she wants to be in a relationship and he gives that to her.

Was wearing the thigh-high boots tough?

On the snow it’s been interesting. Yesterday, I had some physical scenes sliding around on the snow and the ice, so it’s been interesting working with the wardrobe department on how to make things work, but they’re used to it. They’ve done two seasons now so they’re always one step ahead of me in that department.

The first of several on set interviews for season 3 of FX’s Fargo has arrived via The Observer. While you can read the full interview by using the link above, this first interview is with the cast. Playing the parolee girlfriend Nikki Swango of Ewan’s character Ray Stussy, Mary said this to them:

When Fargo‘s third season was still in the planning stages Noah Hawley described Nikki Swango, according Ms. Kennedy, as “the only Fargo character that gets to be really, really hot,” a sentiment echoed by Costume Designer Carol Case. “With Nikki, the sky is the limit,” Case says. Compared, of course, to Fargo‘s usual wardrobe palette of brown matched with slightly darker brown.

Which makes it all the stranger that Nikki ends up with the constantly put-upon Ray Stussy. “When [Noah] sent me the first script, he made it clear that Nikki’s love for Ray was real, which was very important,” Winstead tells me, sitting in an icebox-esque trailer in-between shooting scenes.

“In reading it, you could have played it totally differently,” she continued. “I could have read it and played it as she was manipulating him to gain something. Or she will be with him with a little bit then leave him. Because really, from the first episode, just on the page it’s hard to know where it’s going. You don’t know. I could have easily have thought she was going to become some sort of really awful character. But knowing that little kernel, knowing that I could believe in that relationship allowed it to really blossom into something really, really fun.”

Mary also revealed that she and Ewan only took two one-hour lessons to learn about the world of competitive bridge playing and only has basic knowledge of the game.

“I think it mainly speaks to her personality,” she says. “She is constantly strategizing, and she never stops planning and thinking about what her next move is. Trying to be one step ahead of whoever she’s against. Because she’s sort of one of those people that always needs to have an enemy so that she can win.”

Speaking with The A.V. Club about the competitive bridge playing, Mary said “It was so much more difficult than I think we had imagined, so going to see the tournament and seeing how people behave and interact with one another was something that we thought, ‘Okay, we can at least act this; We don’t actually have to know how all the numbers and stuff are adding up.”