Cary Fukunaga Gave a Talk at Tribeca Film Festival

By Reuben Levine | Apr 24, 2015

Not too long ago we told you that first season (we get to say that now) True Detective director Cary Fukunaga would be giving a public interview at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival. Well, the time has finally come. Fukunaga’s talk took place yesterday, and Indie Wire has all the juicy details.

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Cary Fukunaga was unexpectedly candid when it came True Detective, which goes against how he tackled the subject in the past. Part of the reason that he hasn’t been so forthcoming could have something to do with how crazy the production was, which was something he goes into here:

"…so we basically planned in pre-production for True Detective… the first five episodes, really. But 6, 7 and 8 had to be planned while we were shooting…before a shooting day, we’d go scouting, tech scouting. At lunch, we’d have production meetings. After shooting, we’d go see new locations…It just meant you did what you would have done normally in 8 weeks on the tops and ends and bottoms of days.”"

There’s not really anyway to phrase that doesn’t sound grueling. It sounds like there was something of a scramble during the first season’s production, which could have something to do with why the second season has taken so long. It would be better to get as much work done ahead of time as possible.

When it came to Matthew McConaughey, Fukunaga had a lot to say on his dedication to the role. Which, frankly, is something that can be easily seen on-screen:

"“In one day, McConaughey did 29 pages… sort of like a one-man show…McConaughey is a health nut; he doesn’t smoke — he was taking a few drags off the cigarette, and I’m like, ‘Let’s not make this look like a middle school girl smoking cigarettes.’ And he took that to the whole other degree — he Cheech-and-Chonged those things.”"

McConaughey took the role of Rust Cohle very seriously. So seriously, in fact, he may have never stopped being Rust. The rest of the interview is also worth a read, especially if you’re interested in Cary Fukunaga’s thoughts on film education or how he chooses his projects.

Next: The first season True Detective characters that everyone loves should never come back.

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