The Characters of Fargo

5 October 2015

Peggy Blumquist – played by Kirsten Dunst

Peggy is a small town beautician in Luverne, MN, but inside she knows she could be so much more. She’s on a quest, really, to become the best Peggy Blumquist she can be, which means not just being a wife and one day mother. Her husband, Ed, is a traditional man with timeless goals (buy the shop, raise a family), but Peggy can’t help but think there’s more to life than just Luverne, Minnesota.

 

Lou Solverson – played by Patrick Wilson

A former Swift Boat Lieutenant who served three tours in Vietnam, Lou now works as a Minnesota State Trooper. He lives in Luverne, MN with his wife, Betsy, and daughter, Molly. Lou is a simple man, a believer in the American spirit and the American dream, but he is starting to worry that he and the other soldiers brought the war home with them. 

 

Ed Blumquist – played by Jesse Plemons

A butcher's assistant at Bud’s Meats, Ed is a gentle giant. All he ever wanted out of life was to become his parents, and so he married Peggy and they settled into his parents’ old house. Now Ed is working to buy the butcher shop and trying to talk Peggy into starting a family. Ed avoided serving in Vietnam due to a single kidney so his mettle has never really been tested. But that is about to change.

 

Floyd Gerhardt – played by Jean Smart

Floyd is the matriarch of the Gerhardt crime family. She was the rock beside her man for 40 years and raised four sons and has five grandchildren. But when her husband has a stroke, Floyd decides it’s her time to take over the family business. The only problem is that her oldest son, Dodd, wants the throne for himself. 

 

Hank Larsson – played by Ted Danson

Hank is the Rock County Sheriff and Lou’s father-in-law. He’s an unflappable WWII veteran who’s never too busy to spend time with his granddaughter, Molly. After years of relative peace, Hank is seeing the country (and his county) turn in a more troubling and violent direction and it forces him to ask – is he up to the task of keeping the peace now that the war has come home? 

 

Betsy Solverson – played by Cristin Milloti

Betsy had a crush on Lou Solverson all through high school, even though it was her sister who said she was going to marry him. Now she is a stay-at-home mom, the glue that holds her family together. But that job has gotten harder since her cancer diagnosis. And though she would never say it out loud, she’s hurting now and worried, especially as her husband and father find themselves pulled into a most troubling case.

 

Dodd Gerhardt – played by Jeffrey Donovan

The oldest son of the Gerhardt crime syndicate, Dodd is a Machiavellian figure with eyes on his father’s throne. When Otto has a stroke, Dodd finds himself battling his own mother for the top spot. To say he has regressive attitudes towards women’s liberation would be an understatement. That said, he is the father of four daughters.

 

Mike Milligan – Bokeem Woodbine

An enforcer for the Kansas City mafia, Milligan comes to Fargo with his boss Joe Bulo to acquire the Gerhardt territory. Milligan is something of an iconoclast, a man of great philosophical curiosity who dresses in western wear. He fits into neither the Caucasian nor African-American community. Over the course of our story, Milligan fights not only to complete his task but also to get a seat at the corporate table.

 

Karl Weathers – played by Nick Offerman

A Korean War veteran, Karl is Luverne, Minnesota’s oratorically gifted and (primarily) inebriated lawyer. He spends most of his time drinking at the Veteran’s Hall. 

 

Rye Gerhardt – played by Kieran Culkin

The youngest son of the Gerhardt clan, Rye sees himself as a big shot but is mostly just a screw up. With no hope of ever inheriting the family business, Rye sets out to build an empire of his own. 

 

Hanzee Dent – played by Zahn McClarnon

Hanzee is the Gerhardt family’s primary enforcer. A Native American man, Hanzee was taken in by Otto Gerhardt when he was just a kid. Raised by the family (but never part of it), Hanzee has become Dodd’s right hand man.

 

Joe Bulo – played by Brad Garrett

A middle manager for the Kansas City mafia, Joe Bulo travels to Fargo, ND to acquire the Gerhardt operation by any means necessary. He is a foot soldier for a new kind of corporate crime syndicate, one who believes that the era of the family business is over.

 

Gale Kitchen & Wayne Kitchen – played by Brad Mann & Todd Mann

Part of the Kansas City Crime Syndicate, twin brothers Wayne and Gale Kitchen are no-nonsense hired hands and men of few words. It’s a kill or be killed world, and they know what side they’re on. 

 

Charlie Gerhardt – played by Allan Dobrescu

Just 17, Charlie is Bear’s only son. Born with cerebral palsy, Charlie has come back from school to be with his family during a trying time. Though his father wants him to steer clear of the family business and become a professional, Charlie is intrigued by the swagger and electricity of their crime legacy. 

 

Constance Heck – played by Elizabeth Marvel

Owner of the local beauty salon, Constance is an independent, liberated woman who knows what she wants in life and encourages her staff and clients to “be the best you, you can be.”

 

Bear Gerhardt – played by Angus Sampson

The middle son of Floyd and Otto Gerhardt, Bear is a quiet lumberjack of a man. He has raised his son Charlie, who suffers from cerebral palsy, without the help of the boy’s mother. Though his older brother Dodd thinks Bear is a momma’s boy, no one should doubt the ferocity with which he will fight to protect what’s his.

Simone Garhardt – played by Rachel Keller

At 19, Simone is Dodd’s oldest daughter and the victim of much of his hatred of women. It doesn’t help that she's “liberated” and likes to get high. Simone is fiery and passionate (in other words, a lot like her dad) and if he would support her instead of undermining her, she could take over the family business one day.

 

Otto Gerhardt – played by Michael Hogan

As a second generation immigrant from Germany, Otto Gerhardt took over his father’s crime syndicate and, through a mix of brutality and sheer will, turned it into a criminal empire that spans the upper mid-west. An indomitable warlord for over 30 years known for crushing all who opposed him, Otto faces an entirely new challenge after suffering a debilitating stroke. But he’s not going anywhere – The White Lion is too mean to die.

 

Ronald Reagan – played by Bruce Campbell

An old-time Hollywood actor with charisma and charm to spare and two terms as governor of California under his belt, Ronald Reagan is ready for the next political challenge. With his sights set on becoming President of the United States, he’s now out on the campaign trail to rally the American people.