With Jodie Foster’s 2024 Emmy win for her role inTrue Detectiveseason 4,she’s broken a 10-year streak of disappointment for the series. Jodie Foster is commonly considered one of the greatest and most accomplished actors of all time, best known for her Oscar-winning role inThe Silence of the Lambs. This made it all the more exciting when she joined theTrue Detective: Night Countrycast, continuing the HBO show’s trend of bringing top-quality, prestige talent to lead the anthology series.
In 2024’s revamped True Detective, which saw a return to the series under new showrunner Issa Lopez following a five-year break from season 3, Foster played Liz Danvers. Like most of the hit crime show’slead detectives, Danvers struggled to keep matters together in her personal life as she found herself diving deeper into a convoluted murder case, leading to the dramaticTrue Detective: Night Countryending.Jodie Foster won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Moviefor her portrayal of the character.
Jodie Foster Is The First Actor To Win An Emmy For True Detective
Matthew McConaughey Shockingly Never Won An Emmy For True Detective
Despite Matthew McConaughey’s iconic performance as Rust Cohle inTrue Detectiveseason 1, he didn’t receive the Emmyin 2014. Neither Colin Farrell nor Mahershala Ali won for their seasons, and none of the supporting cast members ever took home an award, makingJodie Fosterthe first actor to win for the series. In total, the series had 22 nominations and five wins prior to her victory in 2024. Foster’s season did bring more nominations in other categories as well.
New True Detective Season 5 Update Is A Big Relief After Night Country’s Divisive Twists
New updates about True Detective season 5’s storytelling approach are relieving because they promise it will not repeat season 4’s divisive twists.
Why It Took 10 Years For True Detective To Finally Win An Acting Emmy (Despite Season 1’s Legacy)
True Detective Season 1 Was Faced Against Some Television Titans In The Emmys
True Detectiveseason 1 alone was enough to cement the HBO series as one of thebest TV shows of all time, withMcConaughey’s character considered one of the most well-written protagonists in television history. It may come as a shock that neither he nor Woody Harrelson took home an award that year, but it’s due to the fact that they were up against a stacked category. See the list of nominees and the winner below:
Kevin Spacey
House of Cards
It seems more than likely that McConaughey would have collected an Emmy that night had he been nominated in the Miniseries category rather than Drama series. The category wasn’t labeled to include anthology series at the time, butFargowas still included in it. In the Lead Actor in a Drama Series category,no one was beating Bryan Cranston for the final season ofBreaking Bad, soTrue Detectivenever had a chance. Following that, the show’s second and third seasons never received enough acclaim for any serious Emmy consideration.
Other Emmys True Detective Was Up For
True Detective Has Been Nominated For 12 Primetime Emmys
True Detectivehas been nominated for a dozen Primetime Emmys during its four seasons. While Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey, Mahershala Ali, and Jodi Foster all received acting nods (with Foster being the only winner), they were not the only ones. While there were no supporting actors who got Emmy nods in the early seasons of the show,both John Hawkes and Kali Reis were nominated in supporting roles in 2024 for season 4.
WhereTrue Detectivehas seen the bulk of its nominations, however, are in categories behind the scenes. Directing and writing have been standouts on the show.Both Cary Fukunaga and Nic Pizzolatto were nominated for their directing and writing, respectively, though for different episodes, in the first season. Likewise,Issá Lopez was nominated as both a writer and director in season 4.
2014
2019
2024
Outstanding Limited Or Anthology Series
Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie - Jodie Foster
Winner
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie - John Hawkes
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie - Kali Reis
Outstanding Directing In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie - Issá Lopez
Outstanding Writing In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie - Issá Lopez
The series has also been nominated for numerous Primetime Creative Arts Emmys. While the Primetime Emmys focus on the very visible aspects of the show, focusing largely on the actors involved in the projects, the Creative Arts Emmys focus on the people working behind the scenes to make the show happen who are not directors and writers. The camera work and casting is what takes center stage at this ceremony, which is not televised.True Detectivehas been nominated for 28 Creative Arts Emmys, winning four of them.
Status
Outstanding Art Direction For A Contemporary Or Fantasy Series (Single Camera)
2016
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or Movie
Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Limited Series or Movie
Outstanding Makeup for a Limited Series or Movie (Non-Prosthetic)
Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special
Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Outstanding Contemporary Makeup for a Limited Series or Movie (Non-Prosthetic)
Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
Outstanding Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More)
Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode
This impressive slate of nominations demonstrates how much talent and skill goes into making a season ofTrue Detectivefrom the ground up.
True Detective
True Detective is an anthology series exploring intricate criminal investigations through multiple timelines. Each season examines dark personal and professional secrets revealed during the course of solving complex cases, highlighting the impact of crime on individuals both within and outside the law enforcement community.
