UPDATE: TheWrap adds that Taylor Kitsch, coming off strong reviews in HBO’s The Normal Heart, is also primed to snag a coveted lead role in True Detective. He’s apparently in contention with On the Road actor Garrett Hedlun but currently has the edge. TheWrap’s report also states that HBO was intent on landing a movie star, someone “rugged and gritty,” for the part Farrell ultimately received.
ORIGINAL: At long last, the pieces are falling into place for the second season of HBO’s brilliant, game-changing True Detective, with word that Colin Farrell (In Bruges) is being eyed for one of four lead roles in the Nic Pizzolatto-created and scripted anthology series.
Deadline’s Mike Fleming has the scoop, saying that he can confirm Farrell is “deep in negotiations” to join the cast of the second season, which will begin filming later this year and is due to arrive on HBO in early 2015. Jessica Chastain has also been rumored for a role, but no developments on that front at this time. Regardless, it’s thrilling to see an actor of Farrell’s caliber join a project like True Detective.
Though it has felt at times that the actor needs to fire his agent, having appeared in a string of duds including Total Recall and Winter’s Tale, he’s a tremendously talented thespian, as we’ve seen in films like Minority Report, Ondine and Seven Psychopaths (in addition to In Bruges, which is far and away one of my favorite movies of all time).
Fleming says he’s “confident that Farrell will be in the cast.” In his report, the writer claims that there are three major roles in True Detective‘s second season, which is not the case according to Pizzolatto himself. Although, looking at Pizzolatto’s comments, it’s possible that there could be three detectives and one other main character (perhaps the killer they’re hunting?). However, there’s no reason to doubt Fleming’s scoop, given that he’s rarely wrong and has broken news of some massive castings over the years.
What else do we know about season two of True Detective? Well, Killer Joe filmmaker William Friedkin may be in the mix to direct one or more episodes, and the new season will take place in California. According to Pizzolatto, “we’re going to try to capture a certain psychosphere ambience of the place,” and the second season will be about “hard women, bad men and the secret occult history of the United States transportation system.”
True Detective will debut its second season next year.