Geek lord Bruce Campbell has been cast as Republican demigod Ronald Reagan in the upcoming second season of the FX drama Fargo.
/Film reports that Campbell will be joining fellow new cast members Ted Danson, Nick Offerman, and Patrick Wilson in the role of the only president that matters. The new season of the show takes place long before the events of Fargo’s first season, picking up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota circa 1979. At this point in history, the Gipper was no longer making movies with monkeys and was done acting as boss man to Congressional baboons, having declined to run for a third term as governor of California in 1975. FX CEO John Landgraf explains that, in the context of the show, “[Reagan]’s on his first campaign [and he] makes a swing through Fargo. Some of the characters have some interactions with him. And some of his movies are also a part of the show.” Landgraf adds that, “a lot of what [Fargo’s second season] is about is the cultural transformation that was going on at the time.”
Bruce Campbell has a long history with Joel and Ethan Coen, directors of the 1996 film that inspired the FX series, as well as honorary Coen triplet Sam Raimi. The Coens did a script rewrite on Raimi’s Campbell-starring 1985 slapstick comedy Crimewave, and, in addition to a supporting role in the Coen’s 1994 effort The Hudsucker Proxy, Campbell also appears briefly in the original film version of Fargo; he can be seen on the fuzzy television screen in the kidnapper’s cabin. The footage was not shot for the film, and was actually a regional Minnesota soap opera that Campbell had appeared on in his salad days.
Fargo’s second season will premiere on FX this fall.