It has long been said that Irish thespian Colin Farrell was in talks to star in the second season of the HBO series, True Detective. In a chat with Sunday World, Farrell has now confirmed this bit his casting, and has opened up a bit about his excitement surrounding the project.

“I’m doing the second series. I’m so excited,” he told the Irish paper. While there isn’t much the actor knows about the story, he did discuss what he does know, while also confirming the setting. “I know it will be eight episodes and take around four or five months to shoot. I know very little about it, but we’re shooting in the environs of Los Angeles which is great. It means I get to stay at home and see the kids,” he said. Farrell also added, “These are early days and all the powers that be are working out locations and schedules and trying to lock down the cast.“

Speaking of the cast, other rumored actors set to appear in the prestigious project are Vince Vaughn, Elizabeth Moss, and Taylor Kitsch.

Farrell also discussed a bit why the move to television wasn’t as daunting as it would’ve been years ago. Singing a very familiar tune, sung by other actors that have made a similar jump, Farrell says that the quality of television has skyrocketed in recent years. “It’s been shown time and time again how [channels like] HBO have raised the bar regarding production values and fundamentally the writing that all their shows are based on,” the actor said. â€œIt’s extraordinary; it has reached a new level. You get to familiarise yourself with characters week after week,” Farrell added. The actor continued to gush over the opportunity when he said, “You get to build a life that takes a while to experience as an actor and also that takes a while to experience as a viewer. There’s just a greater sense of life to it.“

The first season, of course, was a critical triumph for HBO. Starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson at the top of their formidable games, the series took home several Emmys, and was lauded as an excitingly rich, gritty, new take on the TV detective genre.

While I loved the first season of True Detective, I’ll admit that I’m a bit skeptical that HBO can capture lightning in a bottle a second time. Here’s my reasoning: Yes, it was fantastically made, and expertly written. But how much of what made the series so captivating was the incredible work of its lead actors? You had McConaughey, still amidst his “McConaissance,” where he was doing the best work he’s ever done in an attempt to undo all the damage done to his reputation after years of so-so romantic comedies. You had Harrelson, eager to re-establish himself as a serious actor after springing back into the mainstream with movies like Zombieland and Hunger Games. Then there was the remarkable chemistry between the two, fueled by years of real-life friendship.

It was a perfect storm.

My concern, then, is linked to a question I’ve always asked fellow fans of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight: “How much of what made that film extraordinary was Heath Ledger’s performance? In the hands of a lesser actor, would the film have held up just based on its plot, characters, and directing?”

Without the dynamic duo of Season 1, can Season 2 have the same impact? And if you’re one to claim that actors are secondary to what a great director, like Nolan, brings to a project, then even you should be concerned. Cary Joji Fukunanga, who directed all eight episodes of the first season, will not be in the director’s chair this time around. He won an Emmy for his work, but will now serve as merely an executive producer for the next season.

I don’t mean to be all doom and gloom. I want this to be awesome. And I rather like a lot of the names being associated with the cast, but I just have my concerns.

What do you think?

SOURCE: Sunday World