Steve Buscemi still can’t believe that his “Fargo” accent endures in the zeitgeist, especially after Robert Pattinson cited the performance as an influence for “Mickey 17.”
Pattinson leads Bong Joon Ho’s English-language “Mickey 17,” which premiered at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival. During the press conference for the film, Pattinson shared that he was inspired by Steve Buscemi’s “Fargo” character for one of the eccentric accents of his various Mickey roles. (Pattinson plays an “expendable” named Mickey who is brought back to life 17 times and counting to endure deadly space missions.)
“I actually think I realized today what I was doing,” Pattinson said of how “Fargo” was part of his accent prep work, via Variety. “We were doing an interview earlier and Bong said one of the thoughts he was having for [Mickey] 18 was Peter Stormare from ‘Fargo.’ And then I think how that went into my head was to do Steve Buscemi as 17. I kind of did it by accident, but I don’t think I realized that until today. I thought I was doing something else.”
Now, Buscemi is weighing in. The actor told The Hollywood Reporter that while he has not watched “Mickey 17” yet, he is beyond elated that the “Fargo” accent is referenced.
“I’m kind of blown away that happened,” Buscemi said of Pattinson’s public shoutout. “No, I haven’t heard that and I haven’t seen the film. My character and Peter Stormare’s character were sort of outsiders so I never did that Minnesotan accent. I’m not sure if that’s what he meant or if he was inspired by my accent, my voice or the way my character spoke. Without seeing the film, I’m not sure what he’s referring to but I’m blown away by it.”
Pattinson previously told Empire that he found various other film and TV inspirations for his array of Mickey iterations. Some of them writer/director Bong approved of; others, not so much.
“My initial idea was to do impressions of Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville [from ‘Jackass‘],” Pattinson said in 2024. “I love Steve-O’s voice. We did it on the first read-through. And Bong was like, ‘That voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard.’ I was like, ‘Is that a good thing?’ He was like, ‘No.’”
Pattinson then turned to animated series “Ren & Stimpy” for one of the voices. The Nickelodeon show “Ren & Stimpy” aired for five seasons starting in 1991. The series followed the misadventures of a psychotic chihuahua dog named Ren and dimwitted cat Stimpy.
“It’s a little like Stimpy,” Pattinson said of how Mickey’s voice differs between the various Expendable iterations. “When 18 comes in, it’s a little bit more like Ren.”
