Matthew McConaughey
Rust Cohle in the first season of True Detective.
Matthew McConaughey plays Louisiana State Police homicide detective Rustin "Rust" Cohle, a troubled, nihilistic detective and Marty Hart's partner, in the first season of True Detective (HBO, 2014). He was contracted well before HBO commissioned the season.
Quick Facts
- Character
- Rust Cohle
- Season
- 1 (2014)
Lore & Background
Impressed by his performance in The Lincoln Lawyer, Pizzolatto first assigned McConaughey the part of Hart, but the actor persuaded him to let him play Cohle, saying he was always looking for a character who monologues. To prepare, he wrote a 450-page analysis, the "Four Stages of Rustin Cohle", tracing the character's evolution over the season. Harrelson was then cast as Hart at McConaughey's request.
Reader's Guide
For the season's six-minute single-take escape from a Bridge City housing complex, shot in seven takes, McConaughey trained with Mark Norby on a fighting style for the character. Critics frequently singled him out for praise, and he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
More in Production & Legacy
Elsewhere in True Detective
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