Matthew McConaughey Was Brutal With His ‘True Detective’ Showrunner After a Night out Drinking
Matthew McConaughey delivered one of his most praised performances as the melancholic and somber officer Rust Cohle in True Detective.
He’d also developed a bond with the show’s creator Nic Pizzolatto. It was a bond that might have only gotten stronger after the two spent the night out drinking.
Matthew McConaughey was brutal with his ‘True Detective’ showrunner after a night out drinking
McConaughey forged an open friendship with the True Detective series showrunner Nic Pizzolatto. To McConaughey, one of Pizzolatto’s most endearing traits was his honesty, which the showrunner seemed to value over manners.
“That’s one of the reasons I really like the guy,” McConaughey said in a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone. “It’s not about manners and grace. That’s part of where he and I get along, because we can be brutally honest, and we don’t think it’s brutal.”
Both the showrunner’s and the True Detective star’s similar personalities seemed to clash while the two were drinking. But although their interaction might have ruined some friendships, that wasn’t the case for theirs.
“We said some things to each other that night that most people would wake up the next day and go, ‘I think I completely severed my relationship with that other person,’’’ McConaughey said. “But I was like, ‘What a great night!’ And he was the same way. We flipped off into the fourth dimension and then let off a lot of steam, let out a lot of things.”
Matthew McConaughey was originally supposed to play Woody Harrelson’s ‘True Detective’ character
McConaughey’s starring role in True Detective was a part of the actor’s career resurgence in the 2010s. Labeled the McConaissance by many, that period in his career saw the Oscar-winner playing a wide range of interesting characters. But these new characters also shared something in common with each other.
“You know, I’ve been able to find such clearly identifiable characters, whether it’s Mark Hanna in Wolf of Wall Street or Ron Woodruff in Dallas Buyers Club. Look at Dallas in Magic Mike and Joe in Killer Joe – these are characters with clear obsessions,” McConaughey said. “Characters that live on the fringe – they’re all a little bit on the outskirts of civilization. I find a certain ownership and freedom in that.”
McConaughey’s True Detective role, Rust Cohle, had similar obsessions. Originally, however, McConaughey was supposed to play the character his co-star Woody Harrelson portrayed.
“Well, they came to me first for the role of Marty that Woody played. And I looked at it, I understood why they came to me for that. But I went back and I said, ‘The guy who I cannot wait to hear what comes out of his mouth is this Rustin Cohle guy. He’s just arresting me everytime I read something that comes out of his mouth,’” McConaughey once said on The Rich Eisner Show.
Matthew McConaughey would love to play Rust Cohle in ‘True Detective’ again
The Oscar-winner wouldn’t mind returning to the small screen to reprise his role as the cynical detective.
“I miss Rust Cohle,” McConaughey said.
Apart from that, he was also just interested in working with Pizzolatto again. He even once spoke to the showrunner personally about a potential future collaboration.
“Nic and I have certain similar sensibilities. The way he writes roles that I would like, with singular voices and perspectives and their own personal politics. I want to do more with him. I’m absolutely sure,” McConaughey said.
