5 Reasons Why Cristin Milioti’s Role as Betsy Solverson Will Always Be Her Best

Sitcom fans may remember Cristin Milioti from How I Met Your Mother. For comic book fans, she is now the Batman villain Sofia Falcone aka the Hangman. However, fans who have followed her career throughout the last decade would agree that her best performance was seen in Fargo. She played the secondary character Betsy Solverson in the second season of the series.

Fans always wondered why she wasn’t nominated for any awards for this role. For fans, Betsy’s intelligence and intuition made her much more than just a secondary character. Several reasons can be listed for why the layered role is perhaps the best in Cristin Milioti’s entire career.

1. Cristian Milioti Returned To Her Dramatic Broadway Roots With Her Role As Betsy Solverson

Cristin Milioti was stuck in her sitcom roles after How I Met Your Mother‘s Tracy McConnell, even though she was a Grammy Award-winning Broadway actress. Milioti’s first breakthrough was when Tina Fey cast her in the role of the “sexy baby” in 30 Rock. HIMYM creators had mentally taken note of her role in Fey’s series.

However, it was her Broadway role in Once that caught the attention of a casting director, who then suggested her to the creators. In a way, her most popular role came thanks to her Broadway success. However, once she was ‘The Mother’, she found herself caught up in Hollywood’s tunnel vision of seeing her in sitcom/comedy roles only.

Once HIMYM ended, she immediately signed on to the high-concept rom-com A to Z, which didn’t last beyond a season. At the time, it seemed impossible that she would ever get cast as Betsy Solverson. However, Fargo broke her sitcom streak and Milioti’s wish to play something more dramatic and darker came to fruition.

Milioti once told The Daily Beast that she had watched the 1996 film when she was just 9. While she admitted that the film was not appropriate for her age at the time, it made her a huge fan of the original movie and later the first season of the series. When she auditioned for the Season 2 role, she had the advantage of knowing the right tone that Betsy Solverson needed.

2. Cristin Milioti Didn’t Need Much Convincing To Take On The Role

Betsy Solverson in Season 2 is the mother of the character Molly Solverson, whom fans got to see in Season 1. The story of the second season took place 28 years before the first season. Cristin Milioti was one of the few actresses whom Fargo creator Noah Hawley reached out to directly to audition for Betsy.

Hawley explained Betsy’s arc to Milioti, sharing that she possessed all the qualities of Allison Tolman’s Molly. He particularly told Milioti that the season was going to be about strong women, with Jean Smart and Kirsten Dunst playing crucial characters. Milioti shared about her interaction with Hawley for the role (via The Daily Beast):

First of all, that’s all you need to tell me. ‘Strong female role? The one of four that will come out this year? Great, I’m in.’

Milioti further shared that she had asked Hawley during a panel event for Fargo in 2015 about why he thought of her for the role. The Fargo creator had also seen all of Milioti’s performances and had only one thing to say, “I was rooting for you.”

3. Cristin Milioti’s Betsy Isn’t Just A Sick Wife — Her Sleuth Skills Are Crucial Too

In the second season of Fargo, the Solverson family gets involved in a triple homicide connected to the Gerhardt crime family, something that was mentioned during the first season’s events. Milioti’s Betsy helps her state trooper husband Lou Solverson, played by Patrick Wilson, in solving his cases.

She too gets involved in the mystery in question and is crucial in cracking the case. However, amidst the crime-solving, she also receives the harrowing news about her cancer diagnosis. This could probably be the reason why fans didn’t see Milioti’s character in Season 1, although her death is not shown in the second season.

Through her nuanced performance, Milioti balanced the strength and vulnerability needed for her character. Betsy navigates the harsh reality of dealing with a terminal disease while also helping push the main narrative of the story forward. It was a disgrace that she wasn’t named among the main cast of the series.

4. Betsy Solverson Isn’t A Larger-Than-Life Character Unlike Other Fargo Characters

The characters of the second season include — the beautician wife and butcher husband duo who cover up a hit-and-run, a matriarch of a crime family, and two related law enforcement officials who are entangled in the whole mess. None of these characters are your typical everyday characters, but audiences could largely relate to Milioti’s Betsy.

She is a more subtle hero in the narrative. Milioti portrays everyday struggles, dealing with her illness while also protecting her family. It was Betsy who added a powerful emotional depth to the storyline, which otherwise pertains to its signature black comedy theme. It can be even said that Milioti’s Betsy is the grounding force of normalcy in a show that is filled with absurdity and violence.

The relatable nature of Betsy Solverson also made Milioti’s portrayal one of her best performances, as she handled the emotionally complex character with ease. As an actress, she could easily blend humor, sorrow, and the feminist strength needed for the character.

5. It Took Cristin Milioti’s Role In The Penguin To Match Her Performance In Fargo

Cristin Milioti is currently receiving all the praise for her role as Sofia Falcone in Max’s The Penguin. Milioti’s Sofia in the Batman lore is the daughter of the villain Carmine Falcone, who is a powerful mob boss. In the comics, the character is also revealed to be the Hangman, the murderer who targeted and killed members of the Gotham City Police Department.

In the fourth episode of Colin Farrell‘s series, Sofia is sent to Arkham Asylum where she is psychologically tormented. Milioti was able to capture the sheer brutality of Sofia’s experience which slowly changes her into the antagonist. Milioti’s success in the Batman universe is bringing her popularity as a drama actress.

However, fans of Fargo have already seen the actress’s transformation from sitcom to drama, and they are not at all shocked to see her performance in The Penguin. It should also be noted that Milioti did some pretty decent roles in the years following her Betsy Solverson role.

She notably played the role of Nanette Cole opposite Jesse Plemons in the Black Mirror episode USS Callister. She also played the lead roles in the series Made for Love and The Resort. However, the role in Fargo will remain one of her top performances.

Fargo is now available for streaming on Hulu.