Woody Harrelson Once Shared Why he Wouldn’t Return to ‘True Detective’

Matthew McConaughey collaborated with Woody Harrelson for the hit HBO anthology series True Detective . Although they both enjoyed their time on the show, they have vastly different opinions about reprising their roles. Woody Harrelson wouldn’t want to tarnish his ‘True Detective’ legacy Harrelson returned to the world of television when he played detective Martin Hart in True Detective .

But doing a television show was somewhat unfamiliar territory for McConaughey. Still, the movie star was drawn to True Detective because of its script. Additionally, television was in the midst of a golden age with shows like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad rivaling and perhaps surpassing cinema.

This made the notion of doing a television series only more appealing McConaughey. At first, McConaughey was tapped to play Martin Hart. But he grew too attached to detective Rust Cohle, who was Hart’s introspective but solemn partner.

“I understood why they wanted me for the Marty role. I think from my past work, someone would think that I would be more right for that. I said, the guy on the page who I cannot wait to hear what’s going to come out of his mouth, and who I agreed with in so many ways, or at least I understood his mind and his character, was Rustin Cohle,” McConaughey told Deadline back in 2014.

It seemed McConaughey and Harrelson were both perfect choices for their roles. The former’s work as Cohle earned him his first Emmy nomination, with both of their performances .