Oscar winner Mahershala Ali has revealed that lead part of True Detective season three was actually white and he had to convince creator Nic Pizzolatto to make the character black. During Variety's Actors on Actors series, the 44-year-old actor said he was offered a supporting part in the new season but he refused to accept it as it was a role that he has always been asked to play throughout his career.

"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," Ali said. Ali said he decided to pitch himself as the lead for ¿True Detective¿ Season 3 and he started sending Pizzolatto a series of photographs of his grandfather, who served as a state police officer.