This was the big news piece that got us hoping –
Variety broke the news in July 2017 that Mahershala Ali, the Oscar-winning star of
Moonlight, was
in talks with HBO to join the cast of
True Detective season 3. Which is obviously very exciting.
His involvement was
officially confirmed later that month - with word coming from HBO in September that
he'd be playing Wayne Hays, a state police detective from Northwest Arkansas.
Ray Fisher - DC's Cyborg in
Justice League - will play Freddy Burns in the show's latest season, the son of Ali's character.
Alien: Covenant's Carmen Ejogo has also
joined the cast as schoolteacher Amelia Reardon, who helps Wayne (Ali) investigate the disappearance of two children in the '80s.
Then there's
Scoot McNairy of
Halt and Catch Fire fame, cast a character called Tom: a father who suffers a terrible loss that will connect him to the decades-long investigations of two state-police detectives.
Mamie Gummer has bagged the role of Lucy Purcell, a young mother of two who is at the centre of a tragic crime, while Brandon Flynn - who plays Justin Foley on
13 Reasons Why - will recur on
True Detective as a character named Ryan Peters.
Michael Graziadei (
American Horror Story,
Kingdom) has also joined in a recurring part as Dan O'Brien.
Joining them will be
Stephen Dorff - best known for playing the vampire villain in
Blade or as the abusive boyfriend in Britney Spears' 'Everytime' video, depending on your mileage.
Dorff will be playing Roland West, an Arkansas State Investigator who has had his entire life and career moulded by the central mystery.
Behind the camera, Jeremy Saulnier – director of ace crime movies
Green Room and
Blue Ruin – will direct along with series creator Nic Pizzolatto.
"I'm tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy. I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and we're all very excited to tell this story," Pizzolatto enthused.
HBO has confirmed that
True Detective won't returns to our screens till 2019 - with an official launch date yet to be confirmed.
HBO held off from
officially announcing the third season for the longest time. What we do know is that Pizzolatto has teamed up with
Deadwood creator David Milch to shape the season's narrative.
Two scripts were written – presumably as proof of concept – before a continuation of the series was confirmed by the cable network.
An official synopsis reads: "The next instalment of
True Detective tells the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods."
Pizzolatto will write the entire season, though working with Milch on the script for the (presumably pviotal) fourth episode.
When
True Detective was announced as a concept, it was as an anthology series, in which the cast and cases would change from season to season, meaning that season 1's finale was definitely the last we'd ever see of Rust and Marty.
Or, um, was it? After the failure of season 2, we would totally understand if Nic Pizzolatto wanted to lean on the incredible characters he created in that perfect first season.
And one of them is definitely keen to return.
"I've talked to Nic about it," McConaughey said. "It would have to be the right context, the right way.
"I miss Rust Cohle, man. I miss watching him on Sunday nights. I miss watching
True Detective on Sunday nights... I was a happy man when we made that for six months."
Don't expect McConaughey's co-star Woody Harrelson to
make a comeback of his own, though. "I don't see me doing that," he told
Yahoo! Entertainment.
"No. Because it went very well the first time and if we come back around to it, what else are you going to hear but, 'Not as good! Just wasn't as good. Boy, you guys were good before, but this time…' I don't want to even hear that."
It seems strange to be even discussing the idea of a
True Detective season 3, when the harsh reaction to season 2 made that seem impossible, before that instalment had even finished airing.
Last year, that decision looked official, as HBO moved Pizzolatto onto different projects under his development deal, including
a Perry Mason reboot with Robert Downey Jr.
Former HBO programming president Michael Lombardo was critical of
True Detective season 2, even if he didn't call it an outright failure.
"Our biggest failures – and I don't know if I would consider
True Detective 2 a failure – but when we tell somebody to hit an air date as opposed to allowing the writing to find its own natural resting place, when it's ready, when it's baked – we've failed," Lombardo admitted.
But something's clearly changed at HBO. Luckily, it looks like the channel, and Pizzolatto, are taking more time this time around.
"I have read five scripts for a third season," HBO programming present Casey Bloys
told reporters in July. "I'm very, very impressed and excited about what I've read. I don't want to give away the storyline, but I really think they're terrific."
http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/true-d...tive-season-3-cast-release-date-rust-affleck/
