True Detective Dream Casting: A Tarantino Special

True Detective has so far proved to be the kind of show that draws powerful performances out of its actors. Assuming that season 2 will stick with a relatively big-name cast, there is potential here to bring in actors that people wouldn’t expect. There is nothing like seeing a knockout performance from an actor that you didn’t expect to see in the first place.

We already know that Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain are both out of the running. The net of actors that could be contacted for this is wide, and HBO will most likely attempt to keep the choices secret for as long as possible. This could also be a chance for actors to prove that they have what it takes to act in a serious drama — before seeing Jim Carey in The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, it was pretty much never considered that he could perform well outside of comedy.

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Big names that we wouldn’t mind seeing? How about George Clooney? It’s easy to scoff at that suggestion, but let it sink in. He’s no stranger to TV, even if he hasn’t done a series in some time. The idea of watching Clooney run around an HBO production does have a powerful allure.

And what about Michael Madsen?

Not exactly a big name actor, but one that is well-suited to the special brand of darkness that True Detective serves up. Madsen could add something really special. Finally, not to draw too much from the Quentin Tarantino acting pool, but Uma Thurman also has the necessary chops. A trio of George Clooney, Michael Madsen, and Uma Thurman sounds ridiculous, but this is True Detective we’re talking about here. Do you think those are pretty spot on, or do you think we have no idea what we’re talking about?

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