Jodie Foster Cast As Lead In HBO’s Best Series

Jodie Foster has been cast in one of HBO's best series, a truly awesome development for this much-awaited next season of the show

By Doug Norrie | Published

jodie foster

Jodie Foster has been one of the true talents on the big screen for decades, an artist in the most certain of fashions with her work. And now, she’s set to join one of the best series around in a story that could end up helping to define part of her late career. Variety has it that Jodie Foster has been tapped to star in True Detective Season 4 on HBO and if previous iterations of the series are any indication, this could be a turn that lands her in award season discussion before it’s all said and done.

It looks like True Detective Season 4 will take its cues from previous seasons, choosing a new setting for a new story with a mystery to solve before it’s all said and done. According to the loglines, this fourth season will take place in Alaska where a team from an artic research center has gone missing. Set against a backdrop of long nights and a desolate place, Foster and co-star Evangeline Navarro will play the titular detectives assigned to the case. 

And we know that from other seasons, the inner demons and history of the lead can be as much at the center of the story as the crime itself. In this way, casting Jodie Foster opens up all kinds of possibilities. Will we get something akin to her turn as Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs or will we see a new take on the detective character? Previous seasons have given the leads quite a bit to work with on the acting front.

Over the first three seasons, creator Nic Pizzolatto has crafted standalone stories around mysteries, and mysterious people with acclaimed talents in the lead roles. In this way, Jodie Foster is joining a small group of talents who’ve taken on major roles in this series. The first season saw Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in the leads. Both were nominated for Emmy’s in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category.

Season 2 saw Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell at the heart of a story in California, though that one failed to reach the same critical heights. But there was a rebound in Season 3 when Mahershala Ali put on one of the true acting displays in television history as Wayne Hays. The story was told over a number of different decades. He was also nominated in the Outstanding Lead category.

As for Jodie Foster, she’s kept it relatively quiet on the acting front over the last few years, picking and choosing her spots when they come up. She starred in Hotel Artemis which failed to land at the box office or with critics, though was a cool role for the actress running a hospital for criminals. Her next movie, The Mauritanian scored significantly better with critics.

We are still waiting on the timing for when True Detective Season 4 with Jodie Foster in the lead will land on HBO. Though with this lead casting news now set, we are sure to get more specifics sooner than later.