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Fargo star Allison Tolman is using quarantine to make curse word embroideries

In the I'm So Obsessed podcast, the Emmy Award-nominated actress talks about Billy Bob Thornton, the ABC show Emergence and how to make a cappuccino with a glass jar.

Patrick Holland Managing Editor
Patrick Holland has been a phone reviewer for CNET since 2016. He is a former theater director who occasionally makes short films. Patrick has an eye for photography and a passion for everything mobile. He is a colorful raconteur who will guide you through the ever-changing, fast-paced world of phones, especially the iPhone and iOS. He used to co-host CNET's I'm So Obsessed podcast and interviewed guests like Jeff Goldblum, Alfre Woodard, Stephen Merchant, Sam Jay, Edgar Wright and Roy Wood Jr.
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  • Patrick's play The Cowboy is included in the Best American Short Plays 2011-12 anthology. He co-wrote and starred in the short film Baden Krunk that won the Best Wisconsin Short Film award at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival.
Patrick Holland
2 min read
alison tolman

Allison Tolman is the latest guest on CNET's I'm So Obsessed podcast.

Casey Curry/Invision/AP

Allison Tolman is perhaps best known for her Emmy Award-nominated role as Deputy Molly Solverson in the first season of Fargo on FX. She shared the screen with the likes of Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton, who were some of the first movie stars to work between film and TV series. In an interview on the I'm So Obsessed podcast for CNET, Tolman explained how in 2014 working on a TV show was still seen as a step down, even for someone like Thornton. 

"Billy Bob was the big name. And Fargo was at the beginning of this idea of movie stars doing television," said Tolman. "Doing interviews for Fargo, Billy talked about television being where film actors went to die. That's what the stigma was, and I think we were part of changing that idea."

Today, it's not unusual to see big-name stars on TV. For example, Regina King, from films and shows such as If Beale Street Could Talk, American Crime, The Leftovers and 227, recently starred in the HBO series Watchmen.

Since Fargo, Tolman has been on a variety of shows, including The Mindy Project, Archer and The Twilight Zone. Most recently she played Jo Evans in the  ABC sci-fi thriller Emergence, which ended its first season in January.

During our interview, Tolman talked about her early career doing commercials and theater work, how Fargo changed her life and gave her more choice over her roles and how she's "kind of killing it at quarantine". She even schools me on how to make a cappuccino at home using a microwave and a glass jar.

Listen to my entire conversation with Tolman on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can subscribe to I'm So Obsessed on your favorite podcast app. In each episode we catch up with an artist, actor or creator to learn about work, career and current obsessions.  

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