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Woody Harrelson wasn’t a fan of True Detective season 2

Woody Harrelson starred in the most highly acclaimed season of True Detective, and says he was disappointed by season two, but psyched about season three

Woody Harrelson in True Detective

In a 2019 interview [via EW], Woody Harrelson spoke candidly about True Detective, which most people consider has really reached the highs of its first season since then. Harrelson co-starred in season one with Matthew McConaughey almost ten years ago, and it often makes lists of the best TV series because of their season.

The anthology series’ controversial second season starred Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn and Rachel McAdams – and reactions to this season were much more mixed. The third season starred Mahershala Ali, and reviews were more positive, but ratings dipped. A fourth season starring Jodie Foster is on the way.

Looking back on True Detective, Harrelson says that he wasn’t interested in doing television at the time. “It was pretty amazing because I had not thought about doing television from the time I did Cheers (200 episodes aired between 1985-1993), and then I did like seven episodes on Will and Grace (2001). I was not really wanting to do television. Well, it wasn’t television, it was HBO. So I feel lucky about that.” Harrelson did no TV whatsoever in the 13 years after appearing in comedy series Will and Grace, despite it being considered a ‘golden age’ of television, thanks to The Sopranos and The Wire.

The interview took place a month after the third season of True Detective aired; “I was, you know, kind of disappointed that the second season wasn’t as… but now the third season, which I’ve only seen the first four episodes because I’ve been working, but I’m really psyched about the third season. I’d like it to keep going.”

True Detective has involved some acclaimed directors from the action movie and horror movie worlds, including Cary Joji Fukunaga, Justin Lin, and Jeremy Saulnier. Nic Pizzolatto is the creator/showrunner. The upcoming season has the involvement of Barry Jenkins as a producer, and Issa Lopez as a director.

While we wait for season four, check out our guide to the best drama series.