Jeff Heller
Lamorne Morris has had a diverse career in entertainment, from hosting duties on shows like HotWyred and BrainRush, to starring in acclaimed television series such as New Girl and Woke, to roles in films such as Barbershop: The Next Cut and Game Night. His turn as North Dakota state trooper Witt Farr in the fifth season of FX’s Fargo has earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie.
We spoke with Morris about how he landed the role in the acclaimed series, what he brought to the character, and how he felt about his character’s arc.
[SPOILER ALERT for season five of Fargo]
First of all, congratulations on the Emmy nominations. Well deserved.
Thank you very much.
I thought it was a fantastic season and I thought you were great.
Oh, I appreciate that. Yeah, it was a weird phone call to get, I’ll tell you that much.
Well, that leads me to my first question. How did you get the role?
I got a call randomly saying, “Do you watch Fargo?” I said, “Yes, I do.” “Well, they might be interested in having you meet with the director to see about a character on it.” And I went, “Yes, I’ll do it, because I love the show already.” And funny enough, I just started binging it. I was on to maybe season three at that point. And so it was just one of those things that made a lot of sense. [Fargo showrunner] Noah Hawley kind of took a chance on me because some of the prior work that he may have known me for was a bit more broad and silly.
Obviously, Fargo is still humorous, but the subject matter is very dark. It’s very deep. Subject matter wise, this might be the darkest season of Fargo. So, it was very interesting to hear why Noah wanted me in particular for this character. And it all just stemmed from some work on New Girl and other things, but there is a through line of kindness that Noah explained to me that he needs this character to be decent and someone that the audience believes truly is this decent man in this world of chaos on this show.
Well, he’s very earnest. I think as soon as you meet the character at the convenience store, we’re drawn to him, and we automatically like him as a character.
Yeah, it was fun. You know, I can tell you a lot of that has to do with a community of people putting all their skill sets together to create this thing. So, you’ve got everyone to the camera operator who is whispering in your ear, “If you stand up and you turn your head slightly this way, it’s going to look really cool.” So, when you get gems like that, you know you’re in good hands because everyone there on set is a pro. Everyone there has been working together for so long, so they made me look good and I definitely appreciate it.
How different was the character on the script versus what we see on screen?
Well, I would say I definitely added a level of solitude to the character. Meaning, I wanted to play the character as if he went home to his apartment and there was nothing in it. It was just empty, you know? He’s dealing with some things in the past that maybe he just needs his peace, but all this chaos and craziness going on is disturbing that peace, but for the right reasons. He definitely needs to step up and be this decent man that’s going to do the right thing in these times. So there was a little bit of that that I added to it.
I had to pull from certain folks that I knew. On the page, it comes off like, “Hey, maybe this guy is a bit of an introvert in a way.” So, I observed my introverted friends and family. And I kind of embodied some of their mannerisms and characteristics that they portray in real life and brought it there. There’s also the weapons training. I worked with my buddy Phil, who’s former SEAL Team 6, and this guy is insane. He’s an actor as well now. He was teaching me all about the proper ways to do things, so maybe instead of holding the weapon like this, he’ll hold it like this. When he enters a room, he’s scanning it from this way to this way. All these different things that aren’t necessarily on the page that you want to bring to life.
Were you aware of Witt’s character arc before you were done with the season, or was it something you were kind of blindsided by?
Oh, I was blindsided. Well, I was given, I want to say, a few weeks’ notice. They were doing some rewrites on other scenes, and throughout the whole process, we were fine-tuning certain things here and there. Then Noah called me to let me know that this was going to happen. Initially, I was like, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. What? This man has sacrificed everything. This man has been shot.” But once he explained it to me and broke it down, that it made sense. It had to happen that way for folks to get that ending of Fargo feel.
That was a very Fargo ending to your character.
100%. So prior to that, in other seasons, when you watch the end, you’re kind of waiting for it. You’re like, “When’s it going to happen? What’s happening? I thought, “Oh boy, here we are. I’m a Fargo victim. Damn it.”
I want to shift gears a little bit. You recently guest hosted Jimmy Kimmel a couple of times. What was that experience like?
It was great. I started out in hosting a little bit. I was a host on BET for a little while.
Right. Was is like getting back into some comfortable shoes for you?
Yeah, because you get to see how it operates. Look into this camera. Switch over here. Talk to this person. It’s a muscle that needs to be reactivated, and it was fun to do. The producers and the writers, they’re a dream to work with, because they make your job so much easier. You’re collaborating on jokes. They don’t force you to say anything you don’t want to say. If you don’t want to talk about this or talk about that, they’re like, “Cool. We’ve got 100 other jokes we can work on.”
As a comedic performer, it’s just fun to always be able to just be in front of a crowd and riff a little bit, and talk junk, and just hang out. It was cool. And the guests that you bring on, that’s always interesting to sit there and talk to somebody who you admire, or have admired for a long time, as if you’re Jimmy Kimmel. I’ve always been a fan of Jimmy Kimmel, and for him to ask me to do it is unreal.
Did it make you make you want to go back into hosting again?
Honestly, a little bit. Actually, I take that back. Not a little bit. A lot of bit. Because of the scheduling of those shows, I wouldn’t be able to act for a while. But besides that, if I could host a show part-time, go and knock out however many episodes in between filming, I would love to. I just can’t do a daily show.
You mentioned earlier that you’re known for a little more lighthearted work. Fargo is far from that, but do you have a preference now? Do you want to sink your teeth into doing more drama?
Well, I wouldn’t say more drama necessarily. I would say just more honesty in some of the work. You know what I mean? Because even with the drama, like Fargo, there are moments that still make you laugh. Because in real life, no matter what you’re going through, hopefully people are laughing every single day. Hopefully life makes you laugh at times. Even in tragic times, you laugh.
So, I would love to be a part of something that, yeah, sure, it’s dramatic, but I get to still add some levity here and there. I look at some of the greats that I admire so much that can do both. Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Steve Carell, John C. Reilly. These are the folks that blow my mind, because they can seamlessly go between the two. And it all looks real, it looks genuine, it’s honest, and it’s believable. Even when Jim Carrey goes so broad from back in the day to Man on the Moon, it doesn’t matter. He can do it. That’s kind of how I want my career to be.
If you don’t mind, you have a couple of high-profile projects coming up I was hoping you could maybe talk a little bit about. You’re portraying Garrett Morris in Saturday Night. Were you hesitant to play a real person that people are familiar with?
You know, it is scary, to be honest with you. It is scary. A bit of a daunting challenge, but as long as you’re honest in your portrayal, and as long as you are not trying to do an impression of that person. Because that’s where you can go sideways, if you’re trying to do a Garrett Morris impression. I was trying to embody Garrett Morris’ spirit and his energy of what was happening to him during that time. I got a chance to spent a little bit of time with him, and hopefully I’ll make him proud. When I spoke to him, he was a fan of mine. He had known of my work, and obviously he’s a legend to me. He was way too gracious and too kind, so I’m very happy about that.
Are you able to talk about the Spider-Noir series at all at this point?
Not too much. What’s out there is the only thing that we can speak on. Production hasn’t truly taken off just yet. I just met Nick Cage once so far, and I can already tell that he just bleeds Nick Cage energy. But he is the best.
And how’s it been re-watching New Girl on The Mess Around with Hannah and Lamorne podcast?
Oh, it’s been awesome. Hannah [Simone] is one of my favorite people in the world. She is an encyclopedia of the show, and obviously we have to be, because we were on the show. It’s been so long ago that you sometimes forget things. Even though it’s for the fans, it’s kind of for us as well, because we just enjoy talking about it. What was actually happening behind the scenes, some of our emotions behind it. And it’s not just all good stuff. It’s not all fluffy. A lot of times we’re speaking about episodes that, like, “Can this episode get made today? Or, “Did I feel comfortable doing this episode?” Or “My performance was dog shit in this one.” We’re speaking honestly about it, and I think the fans love hearing it.
Well, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Congratulations again on the Emmy nomination, and good luck on everything.
Thank you. I appreciate that. Take care.
Season 5 of FX’s Fargo is currently streaming on Hulu.
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