Woody Harrelson is happy with his work on the first season of True Detective, but he has no interest of reprising his role of Detective Marty Hart in future installments of the HBO series.
On the third hour of NBC’s Today show Friday, Dylan Dreyer asked Harrelson if he would ever return to the show. She pointed out that his co-star Matthew McConaughey, who played Detective Rust Cohle in the first season, recently said he was open to returning.
“He actually said that he would be into it, ‘If Woody and I think it’s good enough. It wouldn’t even be a choice,’” Dreyer said of McConaughey’s recent comments.
“Matthew’s so funny, but in fairness, never,” Harrelson responded. “Not a chance.”
He went on to explain there was a specific reason why he didn’t want to reprise his role on True Detective. “Because it turned out great. I love that it turned out the way it did,” he said. “If anything, doing another season would, I think, tarnish that.”
The first season of True Detective was a critical success, with the show earning four nominations at the 2014 Emmys. Additionally, both Harrelson and McConaughey earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for their roles.
While Harrelson doesn’t plan to return to the world of True Detective, he revealed he is working with McConaughey in the near future. “We are doing something together and this is a comedy, half-hour, and hopefully people dig it,” Harrelson said without revealing any further information about the project.
However, he was likely referring to their upcoming scripted series Brother From Another Mother, which follows the two actors attempting to live together on McConaughey’s ranch in Texas. The upcoming series is set to air on Apple TV, though a release date has not yet been announced.
Harrelson shut down the idea of returning to True Detective just weeks after McConaughey revealed what it would take for him to return to the series.
“We’re pretty excited about the idea, but there’s no script yet. When I read the original ‘True Detective’ script and everything Rust Cohle said … it was fire. It was so good that a sequel would have to take it a step further,” he told NME earlier in October. “We’re all thrilled by the idea, but for now it’s just an idea. However, if Katherine Schaffstall Nic [Pizzolatto] writes something that Woody or I think is really good, saying no wouldn’t even be an option.”
