‘True Detective’ Showrunner Praises Jodie Foster’s ‘Insane’ Performance in ‘Night Country’

HBO‘s True Detective is eyeing its long-awaited Season 4 premiere as the anthology gears up for Sunday, January 14, 2024, when Night Country will officially debut.

True Detective‘s latest chapter puts Jodie Foster and Kali Reis at the center of the action which is set against winter in Ennis, Alaska. When eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace, Detectives Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Reis) have to confront the darkness in themselves and dig into the truths hidden beneath Ennis’ ice.

(Credit: HBO)

In a special presentation reporters at the HBO and Max Press day in New York City, series showrunner, Issa López, who writes and directs all Season 4 installments was on site to offer insight into what viewers can expect from the performances, story, and more. “True Detective, it’s a big thing,” López noted in a conversation with HBO and Max’s Chairman & CEO, Casey Bloys. “Changing paths is always a challenge,” she acknowledged of flipping the show’s typical male detective format set against warmer climes.

Initially, she says the prospect of helming the season was a bit scary, but she decided, “Why not make the thing that scares you the most? It became a dark mirror,” she says. “Night Country is cold and it’s dark and it’s female.” As opposed to the show’s first three seasons primarily led by male stars like Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, Colin Farrell and Taylor Kitsch, and Stephen Dorff and Mahershala Ali.

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The hope she says is to remind people of what they love about the show by doing the exact opposite. “It’s a very specific discipline,” López shared. In terms of casting, López also acknowledged the differences between a new actor like Reis versus Foster who has been performing for several decades. “I felt like getting a rookie… and getting one of, if not, best actors alive. What Jodie does, I was not ready to see the depths… the places she goes are absolutely insane,” López gushed.

“She goes through depths of feeling that I have not seen in a really long time.”

True Detective: Night Country will include six hour-long episodes featuring Foster, Reis, Finn Bennett, Fiona Shaw, with Christopher Eccleston, Isabella Star LaBlanc, John Hawkes, Anna Lambe, Aka Niviâna, June Thiele, Diane Benson, and Joel D. Montgrand.

Serving creatively alongside López is Foster as an executive producer with Mari Jo Winkler, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Chris Mundy, Alan Page Arriaga, Steve Golin, Richard Brown, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Nic Pizzolatto.

True Detective: Night Country, Series Premiere, Sunday, January 14, 9/8c, HBO and Max