Fargo season 2: Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons join cast for Coen Brothers' TV series

The series will begin filming in January and is expected to air next autumn

Kirsten Dunst will join the cast of Fargo 2 (Getty Images)

Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons will join the cast of Fargo series two, it has been confirmed.

Dunst will play Peggy Blomquist, a small-town beautician with big city dreams who is trying to work out who she really is, while Breaking Bad's Plemons will play her husband Ed, a butcher’s assistant who wants to be supportive of his wife’s self-discovery.

The second series of the Coen Brothers’ film-turned-TV-series will serve as a prequel set in 1979. The story will focus on a young Lou Solverson who has recently returned from the Vietnam War. The part, which was played by Keith Carradine in the first series, has yet to be cast.

Jesse Plemons will star in Fargo series two as Kirsten Dunst's husband (Getty Images)

Fargo surprised sceptics concerned about the TV adaptation of the Oscar-winning 1996 film. The show was nominated for 18 Emmys and went on the win the award for outstanding miniseries.

Martin Freeman: Why the Coen Brothers' movie Fargo works a a TV series

Dunst began her career playing parts in TV series such as ER and Star Trek: The Next Generation before moving on the big blockbusters including the Spider-Man franchise, Marie Antoinette and Bring It On.

Like other Hollywood actors, including Billy Bob Thornton who starred in the first series of Fargo, Dunst is returning to TV as the format continues to draw in big names.

HBO’s acclaimed series True Detective attracted Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson back to the small screen, with Colin Farrell set to star in the second season.

Last month, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon announced they had optioned a new TV series to co-produce and star in. Zach Braff also told The Independent earlier this year he planned to return to TV with a new comedy series.

Filming of the second series of Fargo will begin in January for a 10-episode run. The drama is expected to return to TV next autumn.

Read more: Casting Martin Freeman in Fargo is a stroke of genius