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The actor, who is also an executive producer on the hit HBO series, confirmed the rumors Sunday night backstage at the Academy Awards after winning an Oscar for his role in "Dallas Buyer's Club."
"No, I won't be back for season two. Season one was finite," McConaughey revealed to reporters. "It's probably airing right now. Has anyone seen it? I made the thing … and I'm not sure what happens."
As for what drew him to the role in the first place, McConaughey previously told Rolling Stone, "I loved the writing. I read the first two episodes, and I said, 'I'm in.' It's like Mark Hanna in 'Wolf of Wall Street' or Ron Woodroof in 'Dallas Buyers Club.' These are characters with clear obsessions, and that's what I've been choosing. Somebody where I could grab ahold of their obsessions and get drunk on them."
HBO has yet to officially confirm that "True Detective" has even been picked up for a second season, but show creator Nic Pizzolatto told Rolling Stone that he's already started writing.
"I've got three characters I love right now, and they're all unique, and neither of them is Cohle or Hart," Pizzolatto revealed.
Pizzolatto may have spilled the beans in a previous tweet he has since deleted, replying to one fan who requested a deeper look at the show's female characters with, "One of the detriments of only having two POV characters, both men (a structural necessity). Next season…"
But "True Detective" was conceived as an anthology show all along, with each season telling a unique story with a different locale and group of characters.
In the meantime, Twitter has done a good job of coming up with casting suggestions to replace McConaughey and his co-star, Woody Harrelson, with the trending hashtag #TrueDetectiveSeason2 offering funny actor pairings.