Don’t underestimate Juno Temple’s endearing and indefatigable ‘Fargo’ character at the Golden Globes

David Buchanan
·4 min read
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Juno Temple has certainly moved on from the sweet world of AFC Richmond and “Ted Lasso” for her latest role in Noah Hawley’s crime anthology series “Fargo.” Its fifth installment kicks off with her character Dorothy Lyon accidentally tasing a police officer in a school board meeting brawl and progresses to her ingeniously boobytrapping her house “Home Alone”-style to ward off multiple kidnapping attempts. Through it all, Temple has balanced Dot’s chipper nature with her dark, harrowing past, and her work has netted her a Golden Globe nomination, the first of her career.

Temple currently ranks fourth in our combined odds in the Limited/Movie Actress category, trailing category frontrunner Ali Wong (“Beef”) as well as Brie Larson (“Lessons in Chemistry”) and Riley Keough (“Daisy Jones & The Six”). While those other performers all have advantages — “Beef” in particularly looks to sweep the Limited categories with wins for limited series, Steven Yeun and Wong — Temple’s standing in the race greatly underestimates the strength of her work and how much the Globes have loved “Fargo” in the past.

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Although it has often been a critical darling and has picked up over 250 awards nominations and key wins, it is easy to forget that “Fargo” has never won an acting award at either the Emmys or the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The Emmys have nominated 11 “Fargo” actors, while the SAG Awards have only ever nominated one—Billy Bob Thornton. Compare those records with the Globes, which have now nominated 10 actors from the series and actually awarded two: Thornton in 2015 and Ewan McGregor in 2018. Though the awards body snubbed the fourth season, which included standout ensemble members like Jessie Buckley, Chris Rock and Ben Whishaw, it rebounded well this year, landing three bids.

“Fargo” also ranks highly in our odds in other categories, including Limited Series/Movie, where it is a distant second to “Beef,” and Limited/Movie Actor, where Jon Hamm is second to Yeun. Even though “Beef” looks unstoppable, “Fargo” is in strong position to upset in one of these categories, especially since no Limited Series/Movie has swept the program and two lead acting categories in 15 years, when “John Adams” won Best Miniseries and the lead prizes for Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney in 2009. While Hamm could be the beneficiary of that trend — it has been the “Fargo” lead actors who have won the Globes for the show thus far, after all — Temple is delivering an unforgettable, layered performance that could definitely speak to Globes voters.

SEE ‘Fargo’ installment 5 reviews: ‘Stellar performances’ anchor a ‘dark return to form’ for the anthology series

Indeed, the fifth installment of “Fargo” hinges on Temple’s character and performance. In the early episodes, she gives her housewife Dot a kind of indefatigable optimism that helps conceal a painful past of abuse by her first husband, Roy Tillman (Hamm), from whom she ran away. The past two episodes — the season’s seventh and eighth of 10 — have been particularly strong for her. In “Linda,” Dot daydreams about a camp where abused women seek solace and healing and choose a new identity in a safe space; it is here where she narrates her story of terror at the hands of Roy via a haunting puppet show. And in “Blanket,” Dot comes face to face with Roy, who chains her up on his ranch. Her physically demanding fight scene with Hamm is a riveting if not extremely difficult moment to watch. As final ballots were not due until Wednesday, Jan. 3, voters had a chance to see all eight of the released episodes before submitting their picks.

Temple’s other series, “Ted Lasso,” is also contending at the Globes on Sunday, which may inadvertently give her a boost, too. Even though the actress was never nominated for her performance as Keeley, the Globes clearly love the show. It has been nominated for nine awards across its three seasons — it has three bids this year including one for Comedy Series — and has been awarded twice for Jason Sudeikis. That goodwill toward the show coupled with the tremendous range Temple demonstrates between the two roles could give her the extra oomph she needs to triumph for “Fargo,” which would be an incredibly deserved win.

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