Patrick Wilson, Ted Danson join second season of FX's 'Fargo'

[January 09, 2015] LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actors Patrick Wilson, Ted Danson and Jean Smart will be taking leading roles in the second season of FX's hit miniseries "Fargo," the network said on Thursday, joining previously announced cast members Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons.

Wilson, star of "The Conjuring," will play Lou Solverson, described as a "clean-cut Minnesota state patrolman" and war veteran who tackles a crime case, while "Cheers" actor Danson will play Lou's father-in-law, Sheriff Hank Larsson, FX said.

Veteran TV actress Smart will play Floyd Gerhardt, the matriarch of a crime family.

"Spider-Man" and "Melancholia" actress Dunst makes her transition to television as small-town beautician Peggy Blomquist in the show, while Plemons, best known for his role in AMC TV's "Breaking Bad," will play her husband Ed, a butcher's assistant.

The second season of FX's "Fargo," adapted from Joel and Ethan Coen's 1996 Oscar-winning film of the same name, will follow a 1979 crime story across 10 episodes, set in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Luverne, Minnesota.

Writer and executive producer Noah Hawley will return for the second installment, scheduled to air in the fall of this year.

The first season, starring Martin Freeman as a cowed small-town insurance salesman and Billy Bob Thornton as a hitman who both become entangled in a murder, earned critical praise and won three Emmy Awards last year.

"Fargo" has five television nominations at Sunday's Golden Globe Awards.

(Editing by G Crosse)

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