CHICAGO — South Side native Rodney L. Jones III will celebrate his 12th birthday Sunday not like most middle schoolers. There will be cake, and his family will be by his side — to watch Rodney's notable performance on Sunday's episode of "Fargo."
Rodney plays Satchel Cannon, who is on the run with his caretaker, Patrick "Rabbi" Milligan (Ben Whishaw), after a feud escalates between Satchel's father (Chris Rock) and an Italian mafia boss played by Jason Schwartzman. Satchel was part of a son swap between the two crime families to try to keep the peace. Sunday's episode, scheduled to air at 10 p.m. Eastern on FX, follows Satchel and the "Rabbi" as they try to find a safe space until things blow over.
"I have been on TV before, but this is the biggest thing I've ever really been on," Rodney told the Tribune in a virtual Zoom interview about his "Fargo" role.
The sixth-grader, who attends school in the West Loop, said he got into acting through summer camps and local theater. He said he realized he loved the arts in 2017 while performing in "Norma" at the Civic Opera House. He's also had small roles on HBO's "Lovecraft Country," which premiered this summer, last year's Season 7 finale of NBC's "Chicago Fire," and Showtime's "The Chi."
He plays Billy in the "Candyman" reboot, filmed in Chicago and due out in theaters in August 2021. Rodney wouldn't say much about his character, only that Billy "plays an important role" in the horror movie and "he gets scared very easily."
Rodney doesn't scare easily, but said his mother, Sarai Smith, screens "Fargo" for mature content. He said he walks away from the TV when he's told, and his mom "had to block out some of the content in the scripts." "Fargo" carries the television rating TV-MA, which means that is specifically designed to be viewed by adults. Rodney's younger sister, Hannah Love Jones, also has a role on the show.
The fourth season is set in Kansas City in the 1950s, but was filmed over several months in the Chicago area and farther south. Production started and stopped because of the coronavirus pandemic. Rodney said a teacher on set helped him keep up with his homework during filming.
Working with Chris Rock was one of the highlights of being on "Fargo," he said.
"It was great being on set with him, watching him act and learning from him. He's a big risk-taker, so I just learned from him a lot," Rodney said. "When we wrapped, he congratulated me on being a part of this big show, and he told me to get ready to be a big star."
