Up until very recently, Matthew McConaughey was not a respected actor. In fact he was the exact opposite, the first word in annoyingly smug protagonists in particularly naff rom-coms whose career was going nowhere fast. There were some early sparks of brilliance, sure, but since then he'd been more than happy to tow the line through a load of dire middle-of-the-road fare. Nobody was expecting him to win an Oscar for his powerful portrayal as an AIDs victim in the straight-faced drama Dallas Buyer's Club, let alone that the former star of The Wedding Planner and Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past would end up acting Woody Harrelson off the screen as a suicidal, enigmatic and slightly pretentious Louisiana homicide detective. And yet he did! Nic Pizzolatto's scripts certainly gave Rust Cohle a back bone, cribbing from pessimistic philosophy for his sunny outlook and existential rants, but it was undoubtedly McConaughey who brought him to life. Out of nowhere he went from a one-note joke to a character actor capable of pulling out a fully-realised, three-dimensional guy who you could believe as a living, breathing person. Who had a peculiar similarity to Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey. The breakout of the show, Rust Cohle has since appeared in countless parodies and won the hearts and minds of every viewer who lays eyes on him. Which made it all the more disappointing to discover he wouldn't be appearing in the second series of True Detective. Or will he...? McConaughey has expressed reticence at abandoning a character he clearly poured so much into whilst bringing to life, stating as much in interviews and effectively reprising his role for a Lincoln car advert. The actor has put it out there that he'd be happy for Cohle to appear, even briefly, in a future series of True Detective, with Woody Harrelson echoing those sentiments. Is there a chance we may catch a glimpse of Rust in the second season, if only for a moment? Well, if time is a flat circle...
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
