Noah Hawley

Noah Hawley (born 1967) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, author, and singer. He is best known for creating and writing the FX series Fargo (2014–present) and Legion (2017–2019). He also worked on the series Bones (2005–2008), The Unusuals (2009), and My Generation (2010).

Noah Hawley
Hawley in March 2019
Born	1967 (age 57–58) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Sarah Lawrence College
Occupations	Screenwriter director producer author singer
Years active	2005–present
Spouse	Kyle Hawley
Children	2
Relatives	Louise Armstrong (mother)

Hawley wrote the film The Alibi (2006) and wrote and directed the film Lucy in the Sky (2019). He has also written six novels and is a singer, having contributed to the soundtracks of Fargo and Legion by singing covers of popular music produced by composer Jeff Russo. He will write and direct the upcoming FX series Alien: Earth, which is based on the film franchise and is expected to premiere in 2025.

Early life

Hawley was born in New York City in 1967,^[1][2] the son of non-fiction writer and feminist activist Louise Armstrong (1937–2008)^[3] and businessman Tom Hawley.^[3] His maternal grandmother was a playwright. He has a twin brother named Alexi, who is also a television writer and is best known as the creator of the series State of Affairs, The Rookie, and The Recruit.^[2][3]

In 1989, Hawley graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in political science.^[4][5] He worked for the Legal Aid Society in New York City, dealing with cases involving child abuse and neglect, a topic on which his mother had written ground-breaking books.^[5][6] He later moved to San Francisco, California. He worked as a paralegal^[2] and in computer programming at law firms.^[5]

Career

Books

Hawley has published six novels: A Conspiracy of Tall Men (1998), Other People's Weddings (2004), The Punch (2008), The Good Father (2012), Before the Fall (2016), and Anthem (2022). He also published the non-fiction work Fargo: This is a True Story (2019).^[7]

Television

Hawley in June 2014

Hawley was a writer and producer on the first three seasons of Bones (2005–2008).^[8] He was also a creator and an executive producer of The Unusuals (2009) and My Generation (2010).^[9]

Hawley is the creator, primary writer, and executive producer of the FX anthology series Fargo (2014–present), based on the Coen brothers' 1996 film of the same name.^[10] In 2014, Fargo won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries, along with 17 additional nominations at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards. In total, the series has been nominated for 113 awards since its premiere, winning 32.

In December 2015, Hawley extended his production deal with FX.^[11] He wrote and served as executive producer for Legion (2017–2019), a series based on the Marvel comic book character.^[12]

Hawley will create, write, direct, and produce Alien: Earth, a series based on the film franchise.^[13] It is expected to air on FX in 2025.^[14]

Film

Hawley wrote the original screenplay for the film The Alibi (2006).^[15]

In September 2014, Hawley signed a deal with Universal Pictures to script an untitled project for their then-upcoming Dark Universe.^[16] Sony Pictures has acquired the rights to Hawley's novel, Before the Fall, with him writing the screenplay.^[16] In 2016, his 26 Keys production company signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to do films.^[17]

On July 20, 2017, Hawley announced at Comic Con that he was writing and directing a Doctor Doom movie with 20th Century Fox.^[18] However, the project was shelved following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox.^[19][20]

In 2019, he made his feature film directorial debut with Lucy in the Sky, a drama film starring Natalie Portman as an astronaut, for Fox Searchlight.^[21]

In November 2019, it was announced that Hawley would be writing and directing the fourth installment in the rebooted Star Trek franchise.^[22] He finished the script in September 2020. It would feature a new crew, although set in the same universe.^[23] In late November 2020, the project was cancelled.^[24]

Personal life

Hawley and his wife, Kyle, have two children together.^[2] They split their time between Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.^[2] Hawley has a brother named Alexi Hawley who is also a writer and producer.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer
2006	The Alibi	No	Yes	No
2019	Lucy in the Sky	Yes	Yes	Yes

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Executive Producer	Creator	Notes
2005–2008	Bones	No	Yes	Yes	No	Writer (6 episodes) Also co-producer (14 episodes)
2009	The Unusuals	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	3 episodes Also composer
2010	My Generation	No	Yes	Yes	Developer	2 episodes
2014–present	Fargo	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Director (6 episodes) Writer (48 episodes)
2017–2019	Legion	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Director (3 episodes) Writer (19 episodes)
2025	Alien: Earth	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Published works

• Hawley, Noah (1998). A Conspiracy of Tall Men. Harmony. ISBN 978-0609602805.
• Hawley, Noah (2004). Other People's Weddings. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0312322731.
• Hawley, Noah (2008). The Punch. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0811864299.
• Hawley, Noah (2012). The Good Father. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385535533.
• Hawley, Noah (2016). Before the Fall. Grand Central. ISBN 978-1455561780.
• Hawley, Noah (2022). Anthem. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-1-53-871151-4.