Allison Tolman had a breakout (and Emmy-nominated) turn as detective Molly Solverson in FX’s “Fargo” last spring, but the actress has been woefully absent from TV since — until now.
Tolman is beginning a guest arc on “The Mindy Project” on Tuesday (9:30 p.m. on Fox) as Abby, a historical-romance novelist whom Tamra (Xosha Roquemore) sets up on a blind dinner date with her immature co-worker Peter (Adam Pally).
“[Tamra] decides that he needs to get out there again. I’m not sure why she thinks it’s a good idea to subject her friend to him. She hopes maybe they’ll be a good match,” Tolman tells The Post.
“They have this blind date and he ruins it by being Peter. It’s kind of disastrous.”
Though Abby and Peter’s courtship gets off to a rocky start, Tolman will also appear in the Nov. 11 episode of the Mindy Kaling comedy, where the frat-boy-ish Peter finds out there’s a downside to dating a low-maintenance woman.
“He really feels like he’s found this perfect woman because [Abby’s] very low-key and doesn’t require a lot of maintenance and they’re really well-suited,” Tolman says. “But then, of course, the second half of the episode happens, and I’ll let everyone see what comes between them and what ruins this idyllic scene.”
No word if Peter’s disastrous dating record — his last girlfriend left him for his co-worker Jeremy (Ed Weeks) — will improve with Abby, though Tolman says she’s hopeful the relationship is a turning point for his character.
For now, her “Mindy” role is just a two-episode arc.
“We’ve all said that would be fun if we could bring this character back some time in the future, [but] this little arc is nicely wrapped up in these two episodes,” she says.
Though audiences know Tolman from the grimly dark “Fargo,” her comedic roots allowed her to slip comfortably into a sitcom (she’s an alum of Chicago’s Second City).
“I spent the past several years doing sketch comedy, so it felt pretty easy to return to it,” she says. “At this point it will feel more odd to do a really dramatic project.”
In fact, since moving to LA from Chicago six weeks ago, Tolman has also filmed spots for comedies “Hello Ladies: The Movie” and the second season of Comedy Central’s “Review.”
While she won’t be back for the second installment of “Fargo” (the new season will be set in 1979, when Molly would have been a tot), she’s on the hunt for her next project.
“It would be fun to do a film, because I haven’t done one yet. If the right television script came along, I would jump at it for sure,” she says. “The bar’s been set so high with ‘Fargo.’ It really could very easily ruin me for all future projects, because I had such a fantastic time on that show.”