Lester Nygaard
A meek insurance salesman who violently acts on his repressed anger after a chance encounter with a hitman.
Lester Nygaard is a fictional character in the FX crime anthology television series Fargo, serving as one of the central characters of the first season. He was created by showrunner Noah Hawley and portrayed by Martin Freeman. Born and raised in Bemidji, Minnesota, Lester is a meek insurance salesman who is mistreated by nearly everyone in his life, until a chance encounter with hitman Lorne Malvo pushes him to violently act on his repressed anger. Lester develops a pattern of pathological lying to evade the legal consequences for his crimes, and becomes progressively greedier and more self-serving as the season progresses.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Fargo
- First
- "The Crocodile's Dilemma" (2014)
- Last
- "Morton's Fork" (2014)
- Creator
- Noah Hawley
- Based on
- Jerry Lundegaard of Fargo, Joel and Ethan Coen
- Portrayed by
- Martin Freeman
- Occupation
- Life insurance salesman
- Spouse
- Pearl Nygaard; Linda Park
Lore & Background
Lester Nygaard was born in 1966 and has a younger brother, Chazz Nygaard. He attended high school with Sam Hess, Bill Oswalt, and his future wife, Pearl; Hess bullied him constantly throughout high school. Lester and Pearl got married in 1988 when he was 22. In January 2006, Lester runs into Hess, and when startled by Hess, breaks his nose on a storefront window. At the hospital, Lester meets Lorne Malvo, who casually suggests murdering Hess; Lester neither approves nor rejects the idea. Lester's name is called and a nurse repeatedly urges Lester to move along, which makes him rise in annoyance and yell 'yeah' which Malvo interprets as an approval. Malvo subsequently kills Hess at a strip club by throwing a knife into the back of his head while Hess is in the middle of having sex with a stripper. Later that night, after being aggravated by Pearl over his inability to fix their broken washing machine, Lester beats her to death with a hammer, then calls Malvo for assistance. He also grabs a shotgun which he intends to use to kill Malvo and frame him for Pearl's death. Malvo sneaks into the house and shoots police chief Vern Thurman dead. Lester knocks himself out to stage a home invasion. Lester later plants evidence in his brother Chazz's gun cabinet and places one of his brother's guns in his nephew's backpack, framing Chazz for Pearl and Thurman's murders. One year later in Las Vegas, Lester receives an award for Insurance Salesman of the Year. He spots Malvo, who warns him to 'walk away.' When Lester refuses, Malvo shoots his acquaintances in front of him. Lester hits Malvo over the head with his award and runs. Later, Malvo kills Lester's new wife Linda, mistaking her for Lester. Malvo later murders FBI agents Pepper and Budge outside Lester's home. In a final confrontation, Malvo strikes Lester in the face with Lester's award, bloodying his face and mirroring the injury inflicted on Lester by Sam Hess a year earlier. Though Lester's gun jams, Malvo's foot gets caught in Lester's bear trap, and he escapes severely injured. Malvo retreats to his nearby cabin to treat his injury, and is killed by Officer Gus Grimly. When the police arrive, they find Malvo's trove of audio tapes, including a recording of the phone call Lester made to Malvo requesting his help in covering up Pearl's death. Two weeks later, Lester is shown on a snowmobile attempting to escape to Canada via Glacier National Park in Montana. He is recognized by police, who pursue him on snowmobiles. Lester tries to escape, only to crash his snowmobile. Desperate, he escapes on foot, only to fall through thin ice into a lake, dying within seconds with his hat remaining on top of the water.
Reader's Guide
Lester Nygaard serves as one of the central characters of the first season of Fargo. He is a meek insurance salesman born in 1966 in Bemidji, Minnesota, with a younger brother Chazz Nygaard. He attended high school with Sam Hess, Bill Oswalt, and his future wife Pearl; Hess bullied him constantly. Lester married Pearl in 1988 when he was 22. His transformation begins in January 2006 when a chance encounter with hitman Lorne Malvo pushes him to violently act on his repressed anger. Lester develops a pattern of pathological lying to evade legal consequences for his crimes, and becomes progressively greedier and more self-serving as the season progresses. Key turning points include: beating his wife Pearl to death with a hammer; framing his brother Chazz for the murders by planting evidence in his gun cabinet and placing a gun in his nephew's backpack; marrying his coworker Linda during a one-year time skip; receiving an award for Insurance Salesman of the Year in Las Vegas; hitting Malvo over the head with his award; sending his wife Linda into a trap where Malvo kills her, mistaking her for Lester; setting a bear trap that catches Malvo's foot; and finally dying after falling through thin ice into a lake while attempting to escape to Canada via Glacier National Park in Montana.
More in Characters & Cast
Elsewhere in Fargo
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