Why Jodie Foster almost passed on True Detective Season 4

True Detective Season 4’s Jodie Foster just admitted she nearly turned down the Detective Liz Danvers role in the HBO anthology crime series.

Foster is the latest big-name star to headline a season of True Detective. The show’s previous A-list talent includes Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson (Season 1), Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams (Season 2), and Mahershala Ali (Season 3).

Landing so much top talent is a big achievement – all the more so because True Detective’s second and third seasons were less well-received than its first. Season 2 garnered especially poor reviews, while critics generally agreed Season 3 was somewhat better.

Yet True Detective’s patchy track record wasn’t what made Foster reticent to sign on for Season 4.

Why Jodie Foster almost passed on True Detective Season 4

Instead, Foster’s big issue was her own suitability for True Detective Season 4, based on Episode 1’s script.

“It wasn’t an easy yes,” the two-time Oscar-winner told The Hollywood Reporter. “I loved the script – loved the script – but I didn’t feel like I was right to play Danvers. The character was written very differently, not for someone my age, and I felt like there are some changes that happen at that age that needed to be addressed.”

“Originally, she was vulnerable and weepy and having a hard time adapting to grief,” Foster added. “We ended up going the opposite route. She’s a closed-off person that’s completely not accessing her grief at all. She’s sort of asleep, and she needs to be woken up. There’s a lot of meanness and arrogance and a bad sense of humor that’s not really funny.

“All of that comes from this place of pain she’s hiding. It’s more interesting, and it better serves [Kali Reis’ character] Navarro’s story, who is the central voice of the piece, the Indigenous voice. I wanted Danvers to serve that.”

What are critics saying about True Detective Season 4?

Reworking Foster’s role was seemingly worth the effort. True Detective Season 4 (subtitled “Night Country”) has earned largely positive reviews since it premiered on January 14. Indeed, more than one reviewer declared it the show’s best outing since Season 1.

What’s more, several pundits singled out Foster and Kali’s performances as a key reason why True Detective Season 4 works as well as it does. The season’s atmospheric, all-night setting came in for considerable kudos, as well.