‘True Detective’: Colin Farrell Channels His Inner ‘Burnout,’ And Two New Trailers

As Game of Thrones ends its fifth season run next Sunday, HBO’s True Detective is on deck to fill that Sunday night time slot. Fans of Season 1, which starred Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, have been teased with bits and pieces of the new story and new characters for Season 2, but are still pretty much in the dark on what will happen in this new version of True Detective. For a few more hints at what to expect, HBO has released two new trailers, and Colin Farrell sat down and chatted about his role on the series recently at the Maui Film Festival.

The two new True Detective trailers on HBO’s YouTube page up the ante a bit from previous versions, with “Stand” focusing on the overall theme of the show, and “Chaos” focusing on Colin Farrell’s character, who will be a very compromised detective with questionable morals. Variety reported that Farrell noted some similarities between his TV character and himself during the Maui Film Festival, even though he’s not allowed to reveal too much. But as he began describing the character, the audience’s laughter made him realize his own connection to the character.

“[I play] a bit of a burnout, really… I dug deep into my not-so-distant past.”

Fans of True Detective don’t know yet if any of the four main characters this season will deliver any bleak, existential philosophy like Rust Cohle in Season 1, but given showrunner/writer Nic Pizzolatto is at the helm again for this run of True Detective, it’s fair to say it won’t be a light-hearted comedy and the characters will go into dark places again, as Colin Farrell confirmed for his flawed detective.

“He’s somebody who like many of us in life is wrestling with events that took place in his past, and is trying to move forward from them, but trapped in this continual cycle of behavior he can’t get out of. I think fundamentally he’s a good man that made some very bad choices.”

Without referring directly to his own troubled past, Farrell also talked about how happy he was to land the role and with life in general at this point.

“I’m good, man. I was at the party long enough. I was the party long enough. For me…. I’m very glad to be alive.”

Season 2 of True Detective features Farrell, along with Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams, and Taylor Kitsch as the leads in True Detective, set in Los Angeles this season. The limited series premieres on HBO on June 21.

[Photo courtesy HBO]