‘Fargo’ Season 2 Hollywood Premiere: 7 Things Scene and Heard (Photos)
Billy Bob Thornton’s advice to Kirsten Dunst, FX President John Landgraf on listening to the critics, and the top moments from inside Wednesday night’s event
Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, and the cast of "Fargo" celebrated the new season in Hollywood on Wednesday night, October 7. (Getty Images)
As FX’s highly-anticipated “American Horror Story: Hotel” premiere episode was thrilling audiences on Wednesday night, another bloody anthology series from the “fearless” network was unspooling in Hollywood — the Season 2 premiere of “Fargo.”
Read TheWrap’s seven standout moments from the celebration of the chilling return of the 18-time Emmy nominated show that has been off the air for 16 months.
“I ran in to Billy Bob in Nashville just before I was about to go away and work and he told me to have production get me a Canada Goose,” Dunst told TheWrap. “They did. I didn’t have to pay for that.”
For warm weather Angelenos, a “Canada Goose” is a “really good expensive warm jacket,” Dunst explained. However, the actress’ interaction with Season 1 star Thornton is the exception to the rule, as of the several cast members TheWrap talked to, nearly all said they had no contact or insights from their predecessors in the anthology series.
Executive Producer Warren Littlefield and his “+3” – his family. (Barry King/Getty Images)
2. Hey Critics, They’re Reading You
FX President John Landgraf reads his reviews … out loud.
Before screening the premiere episode, and after extolling creator/showrunner/writer Noah Hawley for “staring down the woodchipper of fate” a second time and delivering a great season, Landgraf read very long sections from five different glowing reviews out loud to the crowd.
Hawley would follow the boss by deadpanning, “It’s not that good really.”
3. Live Reviews Too
The glowing reviews were not limited to the printed word. As lead Patrick Wilson made his way out of the theater, one guest was giving him a verbal bath: “It’s what you do so well,” he told Wilson of his performance as Lou Solverson, the cop/father to Season 1’s female lead Molly (Allison Tolman).
The scene inside summer hotspot Le Jardin, where Samantha Ronson and Zen Freeman were the hit DJ’s this summer. (Mikey Glazer)
4. A Secret Tunnel
The Arclight has long been plagued by having no obvious after party location without an awkward car ride of two minutes or a just-too-long sidewalk hike in heels … until now. Producers smartly opened a hidden tunnel from the Arclight plaza that guests walked through to enter summer hotspot Le Jardin from the back.
A “Waffle Hut” figures prominently in the opening episode (production shot at the mocked up location “in the middle of nowhere” for six nights before another three nights of reshoots) but the fare at the after party was classic California — butternut squash ravioli, salads and mini avocado toasts.
Inside the after party, heat lamps jumping the gun on winter (it was 72 degrees) kept the roped off VIP section in the northwest corner as hot as the reviews Landgraf read earlier. Dunst shared a toast with Cristin Milioti (billed as a “guest star” in the opening episode — we’re not sure what that means for her future), Jean Smart, and Bokeem Woodbine.
6. Speaking of “Cheers”
While Executive Producer Warren Littlefield, who was so involved in the rise and fall of NBC’s “Must See TV” that he wrote a book about it, was front and center in all aspects of Thursday night’s premiere, the one star MIA at the premiere was his colleague from the “Cheers” days, Ted Danson. Danson plays Molly Solverson’s grandfather in the 1979 version of the show.
Smartly priming the pump, cast from the forthcoming “O. J. Simpson Trial” series “American Crime Story” were on hand with their FX brethren on Wednesday night.
Sterling Brown, who plays District Attorney Chris Darden, told TheWrap that he could not watch what was then known as “The Trial of the Century” — his Stanford courseload didn’t leave him time in 1994 and 1995.
“Fargo” Season 2 premieres on Monday, Oct. 12 at 10 p.m. on FX.
The Scene at TheGrill 2015: TheWrap's Media Leadership Conference (Photos)
TheWrap's editor in chief Sharon Waxman kicked off the sixth annual TheGrill Conference Day 1.
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"Empire" co-creator/writer Danny Strong (left) and producer Brian Grazer spoke onstage during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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Producer Brian Grazer spoke onstage during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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"Empire" co-creator/writer Danny Strong and producer Brian Grazer spoke onstage with Sharon Waxman during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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"Empire" co-creator/writer Danny Strong and producer Brian Grazer spoke onstage during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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"Empire" co-creator/writer Danny Strong and producer Brian Grazer spoke onstage with Sharon Waxman during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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Maker Studios CEO Ynon Kreiz spoke onstage during Day 1 of TheGrill 2015.
Andrew Glasgow, SVP at Viacom Scratch, spoke about the declining attention span of Americans during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill conference.
From left to right: TheWrap's executive editor Joseph Kapsch, "So You Think You Can Dance" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, Electus founder and chairman Ben Silverman, PactUS president David Lyle, and "Big Brother" executive producer Allison Grodner.
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PactUS president David Lyle discussed the state of reality TV during Day 2 of TheGrill.
"Big Brother" executive producer Allison Grodner discussed the state of reality TV during Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Nigel Lythgoe discussed the state of reality TV on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Electus founder and chairman Ben Silverman talked the state of reality TV during Day 2 of TheGrill.
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CNBC reporter Julia Boorstin attended TheWrap's sixth annual TheGrill conference at The Montage Beverly Hills.
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Conde Nast Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff discussed content creation on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Box founder and CEO Aaron Levie discussed content protection with TheWrap's editor in chief Sharon Waxman on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Golden Globe nominee Maria Bello discusses her life and career during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Golden Globe nominee Maria Bello discusses her life and career during Day 2 of TheGrill
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From left to right: Movio co-founder and chief executive Will Palmer, Fandango president Paul Yanover, Skydance Media CCO Dana Goldberg, IMAX's head of international marketing Roger Pollock, Universal president of worldwide marketing Josh Goldstine, and TheWrap's Deputy Managing Editor Thom Geier discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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IMAX's head of international marketing Roger Pollock discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Fandango president Paul Yanover discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Skydance Media CCO Dana Goldberg discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Movio co-founder and chief executive Will Palmer discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Universal president of worldwide marketing Josh Goldstine discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Steven Amato, CEO & chief content officer of Contend and Sharon Waxman, founder & CEO of TheWrap spoke onstage during the "Drones and Hollywood" panel at TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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Co-founder and chief executive of Movio Will Palmer held a discussion regarding "What Women Want: Unlocking Box Office Revenue" at TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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Joseph Atkinson, U.S. Advisory Leader for the Entertainment, Media & Communications Practice at PwC, spoke onstage at TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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Twitter and Uber investor Chris Sacca talks investing in the tech space during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Evolution Media Group founder and co-managing partner Rick Hess talks about financing media during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Former MTV president Van Toffler talks about his new company during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Lloyd Braun, Founder & CEO of Whalerock Industries during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Mark Terbeek, Partner at Greycroft, Jesse Jacobs, President of The Chernin Group and Brian Weinstein, Head of Corporate Finance Group of CAA during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Steven Haft, SVP Innovation of Time Inc., Sanjay Sharma, President & COO of All Def Digital, Christian Meinberger, SVP Content Programming & Production at Studio 71, and Tobias Bauckhage, CEO and co-founder of Moviepilot during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Steven Haft, SVP Innovation of Time Inc. and Adam Smith, Partner at United Entertainment Group during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Entertainment, media and technology converge at TheWrap’s sixth annual Grill Conference at the Montage Beverly Hills