Who plays Hoyt on True Detective and is he based on a real person?
By Shawn Lealos
With the reveal coming next week, many fans are wondering who plays Hoyt in True Detective and whether he is based on a real person.
Both of those questions have surprising answers.
Who plays Hoyt on True Detective?
Last week on True Detective, eagle-eyed fans saw a familiar face in a photograph and figured out that Michael Rooker plays Hoyt on True Detective.
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While he has yet to show up in an episode, he was on the phone with state police detective Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali) at the end of this week’s episode — a phone call that shook up the detective.
Fans know Rooker from both The Walking Dead where he played Daryl’s brother Merle and from Guardians of the Galaxy where he played Yondu.
While it might seem strange that he is playing the head of a major company, since he mostly plays characters who are rough-around-the-edges, it isn’t a surprise.
Who is Hoyt on True Detective based on?
Hoyt on True Detective is based on a real-life person — Don Tyson of Tyson Foods.
Knowing this, check out this footage of Don Tyson talking and you will see why someone like Michael Rooker is not so far-fetched after all.
Tyson, who died in 2011, was one of the world’s richest people, reported by Forbes to be worth over a billion dollars in 2007.
What else was Hoyt based on?
Now, while Hoyt in True Detective was based on Don Tyson, there was another dark connection to a real-life event.
There are references in this season of True Detective to real-life crimes — some that are still cold cases.
Elisa (Sarah Gadon) talks about the possible connection to sex trafficking — which ties into the Franklin child prostitution ring allegations in Nebraska.
It also seems interesting to see so many people who died by suicide — which were possibly staged by Hoyt himself. Lucy and Tom’s suicides are perfect examples of Hoyt eliminating nuisances.
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This is really hard to ignore when considering that Attorney General Gerald Kindt is inspired by former Arkansas Attorney General Bill Clinton. There are still allegations that Vince Foster, the former Deputy White House counsel’s suicide was under mysterious circumstances.
True Detective airs on Sunday nights on HBO.