True Detective season three has added a third noteworthy name to its cast. Stephen Dorff (Wheeler) will appear in the HBO crime anthology’s next installment alongside Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) and Carmen Ejogo (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), per Deadline.
True Detective had an outstanding first season, followed by a widely disliked second, so for a time, it was unclear whether the show would get a third season at all. However, creator Nic Pizzolatto reportedly began work on a new story in spring, with Oscar winner Ali joining the cast over the summer and HBO officially giving the green light in September.
The show’s new season is a tale of macabre crime set in the Ozark Mountains, with a deep-seated mystery at its core that spans three separate time periods. Dorff will portray Roland West, an Arkansas State Investigator who, along with his partner, encounters a baffling crime that changes the course of his entire life and career over a period of three decades. Ali will play the lead role of West’s partner, state police detective Wayne Hays, while Ejogo will play Amelia Reardon, an Arkansas schoolteacher with a connection to two missing children in 1980, per Variety.
As with True Detective’s acclaimed first season, Pizzolatto is the sole writer for season three, though he did co-write episode four with Deadwood’s David Milch. Green Room director Jeremy Saulnier will helm the season alongside Pizzolatto, who’ll be making his directorial debut. “I’m tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy,” said Pizzolatto after the show was officially green-lit. “I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and we’re all very excited to tell this story.”
No word yet on when True Detective season three will air on HBO—stay tuned.