Matthew McConaughey Wouldn’t Have Starred in ‘True Detective’ if He Had to Do More Than 1 Season
Matthew McConaughey’s critically acclaimed role in True Detective ended up being one of his most memorable to date. Still, McConaughey would’ve walked away from the character and the show if he had to sign on for more than a season.
Matthew McConaughey didn’t want to be locked into ‘True Detective’ for 3 years
McConaughey knew he wanted to be a part of True Detective after just reading a portion of the show’s script. Two episodes were all it took for the actor to dive into HBO’s dark criminal underworld.
“I read those first two episodes, and the quality was so apparent, and had such an identity to it that even without reading the final six episodes, I felt this was going to be hard to screw up. The voices were so clear, if the writer just stays on this path, it was going to be hard to wreck this train,” he said in a 2013 interview with Deadline.
The series’ showrunner, Nic Pizzolatto, was able to show McConaughey exactly where the show was heading based on those two episodes.
Another incentive for the Oscar-winner to join True Detective was the fact that he wouldn’t be tied down to a multiple-season series. If there were other seasons McConaughey would’ve had to star in, he most likely would’ve rejected the show.
“That was always how I saw it. One season, eight episodes, a finite beginning, middle and end, goodbye, look forward to watching it. If HBO had wanted an option on me for a Season 2 or 3, I wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have walked into something where they could say, ‘We’ve got you for the next three years,’” he said.
Matthew McConaughey would gladly return to ‘True Detective’
The series has moved on from McConaughey’s True Detective character. As an anthology, each season has focused on new actors and new stories. Still, McConaughey hasn’t ruled out returning to the hit HBO franchise in some capacity.
“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, because I was on my own island,” he once said on The Rich Eisner Show.
He even had talks with Pizzolatto about the possibility of a comeback.
“It would have to be the right context, the right way,” he said. “That thing — when I read it, I knew in 20 minutes if I can play this guy, Rustin Cohle, I’m in.”
How Matthew McConaughey felt switching from movies to television
McConaughey was already an A-List movie star by the time he did True Detective. Some wondered if McConaughey would’ve seen acting for the small screen as a demotion. If the Time to Kill star had those concerns, they didn’t last very long.
“I honestly considered the risk of that for about 60 seconds. I was talking to my agent about it and said, ‘We can sit here and debate whether or not this is a good career move. The main thing is, if this is turning me on, and we’ve got a quality director and this dynamite script with a character for me that is highly original, then we just have to go for it,’” he said.
McConaughey credited shows like The Sopranos for showing what the platform was truly capable of. At times, he believed TV shows offered more quality storytelling.
“That used to be a little more of a taboo kind of idea to do,” McConaughey said. “Not anymore. … You’re actually getting better quality dramas on the small screen today than you ever have been. A lot better than the big screen sometimes.”
