Fargo has had its fair share of peculiar characters throughout the FX anthology’s run, but even longtime fans may be taken aback by Sam Spruell‘s Ole Munch.
When we caught up with the star on set in Calgary earlier this year, Spruell did his best to describe the odd fellow who takes on a bit of a specific kidnapping role when the fifth installment of Noah Hawley‘s hit kicks off. “He exists in the darker side of the world, and once could say he’s kind of trapped in sin,” Spruell says.
(Credit: Michelle Faye/FX)
“Fargo has a history of truth-sayers that sit slightly outside of the story, that become kind of woven into the story,” he elaborates. Enlisted to kidnap Dot (Juno Temple), Ole Munch is pulled into the story by North Dakota sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm). “The dynamic begins with Roy,” Spruell notes. “I think there’s a kind of aspect where he sees Roy as very much his master because he’s his paymaster,” but when things don’t go according to their agreement, Spruell says, “it becomes a different relationship.”
Described in the series logline as a “shadowy drifter,” Ole Munch is the kind of figure you can’t quite put a descriptor on as he can sometimes look to be in his thirties and at other times looks as if he’s in his sixties. “I think there is a kind of enigma aspect to it, but there’s a worldliness to him,” Spruell teases. “He’s very old.”
“I think the aim is to kind of create someone who represents something more than just the time that he’s living in, that we find him in as an audience,” Spruell continues.
As with most truth-sayers in the Fargo world, Spruell notes Ole Munch is “the kind of truth-sayer who reminds characters who are the spine of the story, what the world really is and how it really works and if they are suffering delusions and what their behavior means.” Whether that bodes well for them or not will remain to be seen as Year 5 plays out.
“He doesn’t look well on life,” adds Spruell, “which suggests that maybe he’s experienced the depths of life as well.” Sounds spooky. See what Spruell and ensemble are up to when Fargo Year 5 arrives on FX, and stay tuned for more on the latest installment as the episodes arrive.
Fargo, Year 5 Premiere, Tuesday, November 21, 10 pm ET/PT, FX (Next day on Hulu)
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