TORONTO -- For an American show set in Minnesota, "Fargo" sure has been good to Canadians -- yah, you betcha.
Shot in Alberta, the FX series has employed many Canucks, including a slew that got Emmy nominations for their work on season 2. And they rave about their experiences with the dark crime dramedy known for its Midwestern accents.
"I'd say 'Fargo' is the best quality show I've worked on," says Emmy-nominated art director Elisabeth Williams of Montreal.
"Just the level of creativity and just the quality of the show is quite extraordinary, the script, the directors, the producers -- everything is top-notch."
Season 2 of the anthology series, created by Noah Hawley, serves as a prequel to first season, and is set in 1979.
Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons star as a young couple who get caught up in a crime family while trying to cover up a hit-and-run killing.
Of the 18 Emmy nominations "Fargo" got this year, Williams scored one (her first) for best production design for a narrative period program.
She didn't win at the early awards show held this past weekend (the main Emmys bash is this Sunday) but she notes "Fargo" is the biggest show she's ever worked on and she relished adding the period details to a motel set in Fort Macleod, Alta.
"To see that on-screen and to see how well it turns out, that's something that I'm quite proud of," she says. "Getting to work with someone like Noah Hawley was definitely just a highlight of my life, I guess, career-wise. He's really extraordinary. That whole crowd."
Williams shared her nomination with Warren A. Young of Los Angeles as production designer and Vancouver-based Shirley Inget as set decorator.
"I feel like one of the chosen ones, seriously, that we got to be part of (Hawley's) vision and we got to contribute," says Inget, who previously won Emmys for "The X-Files."
"I honestly think that we've all been really blessed to be part of the project and part of the whole team."
Vancouver-based casting director Jackie Lind shared a nomination with Stephanie Gorin of Toronto and Rachel Tenner of Los Angeles. They also didn't win, but like Williams, Lind cherishes the show.
"It's just probably the best thing that's ever happened to me, this show, in my career," says Lind, who has previously won two Emmys, for casting on season 1 of "Fargo" and "Broken Trail."
"Everything about it is pretty magical, I have to say."
Lind says "literally thousands" of actors wanted to be a part of season 2.
The problem is finding "real faces, real people, and then on top of all that, you have to throw in the accent and it's not easy.
"It's about finding people who really fit into that world, who are believable and who are not cartoons but believable characters."
So believable that they remain in Lind's mind even after a season has wrapped.
"We went on vacation, we were in the States and I walked into this store and this woman started speaking in a 'Fargo' accent and I just started laughing," she says. "Because to me when you hear it, you don't really believe that actually people do talk like that.
"So every time I hear someone speak like that, it makes me smile. It warms my heart."
Ewan McGregor and Carrie Coon have already joined season 3, which Lind and Williams will also be a part of. Inget isn't able to return, as she's in Vancouver working on DC's "Legends of Tomorrow."
Other Canuck "Fargo" crew members who were nominated for Emmys this year but came up empty-handed included Martin Lee, Kirk Lynds and Michael Playfair for sound mixing.
Gail Kennedy, Joanne Preece, Gunther Schetterer and Danielle Hanson were named in the non-prosthetic makeup category; and Chris Glimsdale, Judy Durbacz, Penny Thompson, Cindy Ferguson and Tracy Murray were nominated for hairstyling.
"Mostly Canadians work on the show," says Williams. "I'd say that some of the key roles are held by Americans -- like the DP (director of photography), and last year the production designer was American, the producers of course -- but everyone else is Canadian."
The show has been good for the whole TV industry in Canada, adds Lind.
"This show has certainly helped me.... Other producers, other shows are seeking me out because of that show. Whereas before I was constantly having to compete or constantly having to apply or search or try and get my foot in the door."
