Mahershala Ali Had To Fight For Lead In ‘True Detective’ As Character Was Originally Written To Be White

Mahershala Ali has seen his star rise so much in the last couple of years, after winning his Academy Award for his powerful performance in “Moonlight.” Since then, Ali has been front and center in a variety of projects, including this year’s Oscar contender, “Green Book.” But apparently, when he was approached to star in Season 3 of “True Detective,” he wasn’t originally offered the lead, despite his credentials, because of his race.

Speaking to John David Washington, star of “BlacKkKlansman,” as part of Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Ali explains how he was originally only offered a supporting role in “True Detective” due to the main character being written as a white man. And it took some serious campaigning on Ali’s part to get creator-writer Nic Pizzolatto on board.

READ MORE: ‘True Detective’ Season 3 Trailer: Mahershala Ali Recounts The Story Of Two Missing Children In The Ozarks

Ali said, “I could’ve played that second lead, that supporting career. But in my mind, I was like, ‘I’ve done this my entire career though. I’ve never done that. At that time, I’m 43 years old. If it don’t happen now, it really may not happen.”

To help drive his point home, the Academy Award winner texted pictures of his grandfather, who was a real-life state police office to Pizzolatto. “I was like, ‘See, we existed in this space. In the ’60s and the ’70s. State police officers.’ I was like, ‘I think your story would be served, I think the story would be improved in this case, if this lead character was black,’” he explained.

Apparently, the argument that eventually persuaded the “True Detective” creator to change his mind about the lead character’s ethnicity came from Ali explaining how utilizing him in the lead would open up new ways to look at racism in Arkansas during that time period.

READ MORE: Mahershala Ali Discusses ‘Green Book,’ Working With Viggo Mortensen, & ‘True Detective’ Season 3 [Interview]

“You’re asking someone questions, and [you’re] the lead detective. If [they’re] white, they might not look at me. When I ask them a question, they’re addressing [the white detective]’. Racism is not experienced as the n-word, all the time. It’s more like, ‘Yo, you wouldn’t even look me in the eye.’ Or I said thank you and he just brushed me off,” the actor said. “He was like, ‘Yo, let’s do this.’”

Without seeing a frame of the series outside of the recent trailer, it would appear that Pizzolatto made the right choice, as Ali looks to be fully embracing the role and perhaps giving a performance that can live up to “True Detective” Season 1 and Matthew McConaughey’s now-iconic Rust Cohle.

“True Detective” Season 3 debuts on HBO on January 13, 2019.