'Fargo's' Mary Elizabeth Winstead Talks 'Painful' Getaway Shoot, Learning Sign Language on Set

(Spoiler alert: Please do not read on if you haven’t watched Wednesday’s episode of “Fargo”)

Nikki Swango was on the run during Wednesday’s “Fargo,” and actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead tells TheWrap that the action-packed, breathtaking episode was even tougher to shoot than it may have looked.

The FX drama series’ latest installment picked up from last week’s bus crash that left Nikki and seat partner Wes Wrench (Russell Harvard) fighting for their lives while Varga’s henchman tried to take them out. This led to Nikki and Wrench — whom fans will remember as the deaf assassin from Season 1 — racing through the frigid woods while shackled together, struggling to communicate and dodging arrows from a crossbow.

“Russell and I ended up being chained to each other for weeks because of just how long all that took,” Winstead tells TheWrap. “By the end of it, we were bonded for life. It was one of the most wonderful, challenging, rewarding things I’ve ever done.”

Also Read: 'Fargo': Who Is That Seated Next to Nikki?

The pair wore actual handcuffs throughout the shoot, and the actress says she was left with cuts and bruises as a result. Making matters even more complicated was the fact that Harvard is deaf, so the pair had to figure out a means of communicating, which led to impromptu sign-language lessons on set.

Winstead also discussed what’s next for her character, how Ray Stussy’s (Ewan McGregor) death affected her and what it was like to share a puzzling sequence with Ray Wise and a less-than-friendly cat.

TheWrap: What was the toughest part about shooting the episode?
Mary Elizabeth Winstead: How ambitious it was, combined with the time constraints of shooting television — even when I read it, I just thought, “How are we going to do this?” If this was a movie, we would spend two months just on this. When you [watch the episode], it all moves so quickly that maybe it doesn’t seem as [difficult] as what we really had to shoot. It was at night and freezing cold. And just to be chained together and not be able to communicate in the way that you normally do, I don’t think I’ve ever been in quite a unique situation like that before.

Also Read: 'Fargo' Season 3: Every Character Ranked, From Least to Most Incompetent (Photos)

How did you and Russell Harvard manage to communicate?
I think we kind of fell into it pretty easily and quickly. He started teaching me sign language, and I really loved it, and we just kind of fell into a really nice rapport. In between takes, we’d be learning songs together, and he’d be teaching me sign language through song, and we really just loved one another and had an easy friendship from the get-go, which I think expedited that process. I would help him know when it was “action” and “cut” based on certain signals I would give him. When someone gave me a note, I would explain to him what they said to me but without using any words. It was really nice — there was something really special about it.

How physically demanding was the shoot?
They were real handcuffs — it was quite painful a lot of the time, especially the part of the bus where he’s punching and hitting. I have to go with him for every punch. I had a lot of cuts and bruises on my wrists, and my arm being pulled all over the place. It was quite physically challenging, every moment of it. Those are challenging stunts regardless, but you add a metal chain and handcuffs to it, and suddenly you’re at each other’s mercy.

Your bowling-alley scene with Ray Wise comes as a bit of a relief, with its absurdist homage to “Big Lebowski.”
I love that scene — when I read it, I cried. Such a great, surreal moment in the midst of all this action and craziness that’s just transpired. That was the last thing we shot for that episode, and the whole time, I was so ready to get to that scene. It was so wonderful, and Ray Wise was so great and totally mesmerizing to watch.

Also Read: Why Mary Elizabeth Winstead's 'Fargo' Accent Isn't From Fargo (Exclusive Video)

It’s interesting to see Nikki become the hero of the show. How will fans react to where the rest of the season takes her?
She’s evolved so much — I don’t think I ever would have imagined that she ends up in the places that she goes to in the second half of the season when I started. Noah had told me that when I signed on, that she would be the heart of the season. I think [fans will] be continually surprised — I know I was in reading it. Every turn, I felt something was happening that I didn’t expect and that I was totally shocked and excited by. Nikki continues to stir things up in a way that you hope she would. She doesn’t give up because that would be totally out of character for her. She keeps fighting the good fight.

It sounds like it was tough for the show’s team to say goodbye to Ray Stussy.
It was incredibly sad. It was weird — we all just felt so depressed that day that they shot the death scene. For Ewan and I, that was our show — that was the show we were doing. It really did feel like ending one show and starting another. When a character feels that real and is written and played that well, sometimes that’s the way that if feels.

Also Read: 'Fargo': Why Ewan McGregor Was 'Heartbroken' by Show's Latest Death

Any mishaps on set with Ray the Cat?
I was so in love with Ray the Cat, who’s the sweetest, most adorable thing. There were actually two cats — two little kittens. And one of them was much happier than the other one, so every time we had a take with one of them, it would just be clawing at me and trying to get away from me, and I would just be trying to calm it down. I preferred the calmer cat, but it was an interesting challenge in a scene with a cat meowing and clawing and trying to get away from me. It certainly added an obstacle, something to deal with in the scene, which made it interesting.

“Fargo” airs on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX.

'Fargo' Season 3: Every Character Ranked, From Least to Most Incompetent (Photos)

There's always somebody trying to desperately get away with crimes in "Fargo," often thanks to confusion, misunderstandings and screw-ups. In Season 3, we're already seeing characters losing control of their lives. Here's every "Fargo" character in the show, ranked from least to most clueless. Spoilers beyond this point!
FX
19. Paul Marrane (Ray Wise)
The interesting plane passenger Gloria meets on her way to Los Angeles just seemed like a nice guy. But his appearance in the bowling alley in Episode 8 suggests he's something more. Is he a metaphysical interventionalist? A representative of a higher power? Whoever or whatever he is, Marrane is pulling some big strings.
FX
18. V.M. Varga (David Thewlis)
Cool, collected and creepy, V.M. Varga is the crime boss villain of “Fargo” Season 3. The mind games he plays with his stories are matched only by the ickiness of his teeth. He doesn’t have the level of malevolence to rival Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) in Season 1 or Hanzee Dent (Zahn McClarnon) in Season 2, but the calculating shrewdness in handling people more than makes up for it. As the season comes to a close, though, it becomes obvious he's not infallible.
FX
17. Mr. Wrench (Russell Harvard)
Returning from Season 1, the hitman who went up against Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) and actually survived the encounter pops up by coincidence to team up with Nikki. It's nice to have a singularly dangerous person on the side of the (relatively, kind of) good guys for once.
FX
16. Nikki Swango (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)
Nikki seemed like a two-bit criminal with a little talent at the start of the season. By the end, she's very nearly a tactical genius and a criminal mastermind. She manages to execute an incredibly intricate plan almost perfectly.
FX
15. Gloria Burgle (Carrie Coon)
This season’s “Fargo” cop, Gloria can handle a shotgun even if she can’t handle automatic doors. That already puts a lot of points in her “under control” column. She's obviously the most competent cop in the state, and with Winnie Lopez's help she's basically already solved the case. Too bad everyone conspires to get in her way of actually keeping people alive and bringing perpetrators to justice.
FX
14. Winnie Lopez (Olivia Sandoval)
It only took one conversation between Winnie and Gloria for Winnie to realize their two cases were related. Within a day, the pair could pretty much solve the case of Ray, Emmit, Maurice and Ennis. Despite a tendency to overshare, Winnie's just as on-the-ball as Gloria.
FX
13. Meemo (Andy Yu)
He doesn't have much to say, but compared to Yuri, Meemo's an equally scary dude. His disaffected air about hurting people makes him generally creepy. But it's his completely believable turn as a no-nonsense tax attorney who easily dismantles the IRS agent (Hamish Linklater) nosing around the Emmit Stussy that shows his real prowess.
FX
12. Ruby Goldfarb (Mary McDonnell)
A savvy businesswoman who Sy seems to think might the answer to getting away from Varga. But as it turns out, the widow Goldfarb is playing the partners of Stussy Lots Ltd. from the very beginning. She's a pretty good liar, as it happens.
FX
11. Larue Dollard (Hamish Linklater)
The IRS agent investigating Emmit Stussy shows his skills in the finale of Season 3. With a huge room filled with information, he's able to use forensic accounting to finally fill in the holes in Gloria's investigation -- the why of it all. Not bad for a guy who previously got schooled at his own game by a hitman.
FX
10. Yuri Gurka (Goran Bogdan)
Varga’s enforcer has finally gotten a chance to say some scary stuff to the other characters, as is a “Fargo” tradition for hitmen. We finally know just how dangerous Yuri is, and what a big threat he poses to the bumblers who populate the rest of the cast of characters.
FX
9. Nathan Burgle (Graham Verchere)
Gloria’s son is great at sitting around his boring job at a convenience store. His key moment in the premiere is forgetting a gift his grandfather made him. All things considered, could have been a little more considerate, kid.
FX
8. Grace Stussy (Caitlynne Medrek)
Marrying Emmit technically makes Grace the Parking Lot Queen, so it seems like she did well for herself there. But you'd think that, seeing a blackmail tape of her husband, she'd immediately consider the identical twin angle. Then again, she doesn't really seem to be up on current brother feud affairs.
FX
7. Chief Moe Dammick (Shea Whigham)
Echoing Bob Odenkirk's role as the chief who won't get out of the way of good police work is Chief Dammick. He doesn't seem like a dumb cop, just one much more concerned with politics, chain of command and putting people in their place than actually solving crimes. He seems to be making it his personal mission to get in Gloria's way.
FX
6. Thaddeus Mobley (Thomas Mann)
Before he was Ennis Stussy, crotchety old man, he was Thaddeus Mobley, sci-fi author and dumb kid. Poor Thaddeus got conned hard and nearly committed murder because of it. His reward for not being too bright: exile in Minnesota.
FX
5. Buck Olander (Dan Willmott)
It’s not clear yet if Emmit and Sy’s contact Buck is a criminal con man or just as clueless as they are, but evidence so far seems to suggest it’s the latter. Buck seems like he has no idea what he’s into, what he’s getting other people into, or even who he works with. So that’s good.
FX
4. Emmit Stussy (Ewan McGregor)
The Parking Lot King of Minnesota isn’t completely terrible at business, but he and Sy still managed to bumble into giving away part of their business to a criminal enterprise. Emmit manages to survive his entanglement with Varga only barely, and more or less in spite of himself.
FX
3. Sy Feltz (Michael Stuhlbarg)
Sy comes off as a savvy businessman and a bit of a bruiser when he’s pushing Ray around or dealing with parking lots. The moment Varga shows up, though, it’s clear he’s in way over his head. Where Emmit adapts to Varga at least to some extent, Sy is constantly terrified of him and his goons. He never quite figures out that the less trustworthy he seems, the more danger he's in.
FX
2. Ray Stussy (Ewan McGregor)
Ray gets himself into a lot of trouble. While the guy is smart about consequences when it comes to Nikki, he also hired one of his parolees to rob his own brother. And the parolee he picked was falling asleep drunk when Ray gave him the job. Ray's lucky he's got Nikki around to do the thinking, that's for sure, but it's his dopey pride that gets him in the most trouble.
FX
1. Maurice LaFay (Scoot McNairy)
Maurice is definitely the biggest screw-up on “Fargo” Season 3 so far. He not only robs the wrong place, he bungles the job when he gets there. And while his deep thoughts are the highlight of the premiere, it’s kind of stunning how badly he bungles everything he touches.
FX

1 of 20

Everybody’s a little bit confused in the third installment of the cult FX series, but some are much more inept than others

There's always somebody trying to desperately get away with crimes in "Fargo," often thanks to confusion, misunderstandings and screw-ups. In Season 3, we're already seeing characters losing control of their lives. Here's every "Fargo" character in the show, ranked from least to most clueless. Spoilers beyond this point!

View In Gallery

'Fargo' Season 3: Every Character Ranked, From Least to Most Incompetent (Photos)

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