Bruce Campbell Joins Fargo Season 2 As Ronald Reagan

FX series Fargo drops its second season later this year with a juicy addition to its cast now confirmed. Bruce Campbell has signed on for a cameo role as Ronald Reagan prior to his election into office. As season 2 has been described as a prequel, the events therein are expected to take place in the late ’70s and are “set against the cultural transformation that was going on at that time.”

Taking cues from True Detective and American Horror Story, Fargo adopts that same anthology format. This means that instead of each successive season following on chronologically with the exact same characters and stories, it will venture into new territory. For this backwards time-hop, Patrick Wilson stars in season 2 as a younger version of Keith Carradine’s Lou Solverson, freshly back from his time in Vietnam.

Now we know that Campbell, who recently finished a stint on Burn Notice, will appear for at least one episode as the pre-Presidential Reagan. During his campaign trail, the movie star-turned-politician will traverse the snowy climes of the Midwest and pay the titular city a visit, as FX CEO John Landgraf revealed back in January:

“He’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.”

This won’t be the first time Campbell’s face is shown on a TV screen in Fargo either, as he appeared on a flickering TV set in the kidnapper’s cabin from the Coen brothers’ 1996 movie.

FX is currently shooting season 2 of Fargo with an expected premiere date for sometime this fall. Until then, cast your eyes over the network’s extended synopsis of the show and let us know what you think of its prequel season.

The all new “true crime” case of Fargo’s new chapter travels back to 1979 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Luverne, Minnesota, where a young State Police Officer “Lou Solverson” (Wilson), recently back from Vietnam, investigates a case involving a local crime gang and a major Mob syndicate. Helping him piece things together is his father-in-law, “Sheriff Hank Larsson” (Ted Danson).

The investigation will lead them to a colorful cast of characters that includes “Karl Weathers” (Nick Offerman), the town lawyer of Luverne, Minnesota. A Korean War vet, Karl is a flowery drunk blessed with the gift of gab and the eloquence of a true con artist. Three-time Emmy winner Brad Garrett will play “Joe Bulo,” the front man for the northern expansion of a Kansas City crime syndicate. The new face of corporate crime, Joe’s bringing a Walmart mentality to small town America. His number two is “Mike Milligan” (Bokeem Woodbine). Part enforcer, part detective, Mike is always smiling – but the joke is usually on you. Bulo and his crew have their sights set on the Gerhardt crime family in Fargo, currently led by matriarch “Floyd Gerhardt” (Jean Smart).

With her husband at death’s door, Floyd takes over the family business, frustrating her eldest son, “Dodd Gerhardt” (Jeffrey Donovan). An impatient hothead with a cruel streak to match his ambitions, Dodd can’t wait for both his parents to die so he can take over and expand their business from kingdom to empire. “Bear Gerhardt” (Angus Sampson) is the middle son, an intimidatingly large man who, although inarticulate, is the most decent of his clan. “Rye Gerhardt” (Kieran Culkin), the youngest of the Gerhardt clan, views himself as a big shot, but in reality he’s just a small dog who barks big.