--- title: True Detective Season 3 Casts Stephen Dorff in Co-Lead Role description: Stephen Dorff has been cast to play an Arkansas State Investigator in season 3 of the HBO anthology drama True Detective. canonical: https://time.com/5086236/stephen-dorff-true-detective-season-3/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-03T19:05:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:49:30.121Z og:title: 'True Detective' Season 3 Casts Stephen Dorff in Co-Lead Role og:description: He will co-star with Mahershala Ali og:url: https://time.com/5086236/stephen-dorff-true-detective-season-3/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cbfcd63b30ab12f/6988f6f122fb856843e24428/stephen-dorff-true-detective.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: stephen-dorff-true-detective og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'True Detective' Season 3 Casts Stephen Dorff in Co-Lead Role twitter:description: He will co-star with Mahershala Ali twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cbfcd63b30ab12f/6988f6f122fb856843e24428/stephen-dorff-true-detective.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Now We Know Who Mahershala Ali's _True Detective_ Season 3 Partner Will Be by [James Hibberd / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## James Hibberd / Entertainment Weekly Jan 3, 2018 7:05 PM UTC  Actor Stephen Dorff attends the Los Angeles Premiere of 'Jackals' on August 29, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Actor Stephen Dorff attends the Los Angeles Premiere of 'Jackals' on August 29, 2017 in Hollywood, California.Jesse Grant—Getty Images/Shout! Factory by [James Hibberd / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## James Hibberd / Entertainment Weekly Jan 3, 2018 7:05 PM UTC [_True Detective_](http://time.com/3928767/true-detective-season-2-whats-different/) has finally found Mahershala Ali’s partner for [season 3](http://time.com/4380220/matthew-mcconaughey-true-detective-season-3/). Stephen Dorff (_Blade_, _World Trade Center_) has been cast to play an Arkansas State Investigator in the next edition of the [HBO anthology drama](http://time.com/4380220/matthew-mcconaughey-true-detective-season-3/). Dorff will play Roland West who — along with Ali’s character Wayne Hays — has his life and career influenced over three decades by a baffling crime. The drama also stars a previously announced Carmen Ejogo (_Selma_) as Amelia Reardon, an Arkansas schoolteacher with a connection to two missing children. The upcoming installment is set in the Ozarks with a story described by HBO as about a “macabre crime… and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods.” Original showrunner Nic Pizzolatto will be the sole writer of the series (with the exception of episode 4, which he co-wrote with David Milch, who was brought on board to help Pizzolatto shape the season). Pizzolatto will also direct along with Jeremy Saulnier (_Green Room_), a newcomer to the franchise. There is no episode count or premiere date yet. _This_ [_article_](http://ew.com/tv/2018/01/03/true-detective-season-3-stephen-dorff/) _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://ew.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5086236/stephen-dorff-true-detective-season-3/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5086236/stephen-dorff-true-detective-season-3/"},"headline":"Now We Know Who Mahershala Ali's True Detective Season 3 Partner Will Be","datePublished":"2018-01-03T19:05:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:30.121Z","description":"He will co-star with Mahershala Ali","url":"https://time.com/5086236/stephen-dorff-true-detective-season-3/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cbfcd63b30ab12f/6988f6f122fb856843e24428/stephen-dorff-true-detective.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"James Hibberd / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cbfcd63b30ab12f/6988f6f122fb856843e24428/stephen-dorff-true-detective.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"stephen-dorff-true-detective","caption":"Actor Stephen Dorff attends the Los Angeles Premiere of 'Jackals' on August 29, 2017 in Hollywood, California.","creditText":"Jesse Grant—Getty Images/Shout! Factory","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5086236/stephen-dorff-true-detective-season-3/","name":"Now We Know Who Mahershala Ali's True Detective Season 3 Partner Will Be"}}]}] ```