Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
Emmy Nominee Allison Tolman On Life After Fargo
Mere weeks before she booked the part of Deputy Molly Solverson on FX's Fargo — her first real TV role — Allison Tolman found herself at a crossroads: She could either give up on attempting to make a living from creative pursuits and return to humdrum corporate office life, or she could soldier on, hoping for a break. "It was a major, major impasse," she says. "Luckily, that question was answered for me."
Mere weeks before she booked the part of Deputy Molly Solverson on FX's Fargo— her first real TV role — Allison Tolman found herself at a crossroads: She could either give up on attempting to make a living from creative pursuits and return to humdrum corporate office life, or she could soldier on, hoping for a break. "It was a major, major impasse," she says. "Luckily, that question was answered for me."
Five months of brutal Calgarian cold and an Emmy nod (Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie) later, the Chicago-based Tolman, 32, is sitting quite a bit prettier. A couple weeks before her first Primetime Emmys (Monday, Aug. 25, 8/7c on NBC), she took TV Guide Magazine through life pre- and post-Fargo.
Before Fargo
"My typical day, I'd wake up early, make breakfast for me and my boyfriend, spend 8:00-11:00 sobbing on the couch. [Laughs] Not quite, but I still had the crippling fear of What's Going to Happen Next?
I had quit my steady day job at an IT firm, so I was temping at this consulting firm in the Chicago Loop, and it was a big gorgeous office right by the Chicago River, and it was a big enough company that they were like, 'Would you like three bagels every day? We also have pasta salad,' and I was like, 'Yes, I want all of that, thank you.' It was like The Devil Wears Prada, where there were two assistants — the Grown Up assistant, and the Baby assistant, which was me.
I was trying to find something that left me time to write, though, so I had gotten a part-time job at this photography studio, Vavoom Pinups. But it was clear that that wasn't going to cut it, either. So yeah, that was... a time."
After Fargo
"This is a fun thing about my life now: I don't know what I'm doing, ever. And when you all of a sudden have an abundance of time, like I do right now, you get spoiled. I was working, like, 14-hour days on Fargo, and now if I schedule more than two things in a day, I'm like, 'Whoa, you guys. That's two train rides, and I have to plan for an hour-and-a-half lunch with my cat.'
Today, though, I went to Rolling Stone and got to see their hall of covers, I'm with you now, and I'm meeting with a casting director, and I'll be on Late Night With Seth Meyers tonight [Aug. 7]. That's pretty exciting — it's the first time I've ever been on a talk show. And I'm excited to actually move to L.A., especially since Fargo's going into a second season and I'm not in it. The sting of that has definitely worn off for me, not getting to go back and be part of that experience — just because I had such an awesome time for Season 1. But I totally get it.
But what's life after Fargo? I... dunno. So far, grilled chicken breasts. Grilled broccolini. Some grilled watermelon. I grill, like, every day. About 75 percent of the daily routine is the same, really, but at least that crippling fear has been removed."