Jodi Balfour goes from Cinemax’s Rellik to HBO’s True Detective

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Some more casting news has come out about the third season of HBO's anthology crime series True Detective, which is currently in production. The season stars Stephen Dorff and Mahershala Ali as Arkansas police officers who have to deal with 

a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods.

Joining them in recurring roles are Josh Hopkins as private attorney Jim Dobkins; Lonnie Chavis as the 9-year-old son of Ali's character; and Jodi Balfour (pictured above) as Lori, the long-term love interest to Dorff's character.

Also in the season's cast are Carmen Ejogo, Scoot McNairy, Mamie Gummer, Ray Fisher, Rhys Wakefield, Michael Greyeyes, Jon Tenney, Sarah Gadon, Brandon Flynn, Michael Graziadei, and Emily Nelson.

Viewers may know Balfour from a couple shows that have aired on the premium channel Cinemax; Quarry and the recently wrapped Rellik. Speaking with Collider, Balfour revealed what drew her over to HBO for the new season of True Detective:

I admittedly didn’t get into Season 2 all that much, but I loved Season 1. And I’m sure it will change in the next five to ten years, but right now, MOONLIGHT and Mahershala Ali … right now, that’s the best cinematic experience that I expect to have, in my lifetime. I’m really willing to have that blown apart by something else, but I was so moved by that film and his performance, amongst others. If this season was gonna be a one man show about Mahershala Ali painting a tree, I would be like, “Please, may I be a part of it?”And then, I just think that Nic Pizzolatto tells this kind of story really potently and with such complexity, that I’m really interested in that kind of storytelling. I’m so excited just to get to learn from all of these consummate professionals. I have a bunch of scenes with Stephen Dorff, which is so fun and so exciting, and then I have a couple with Mahershala and Carmen Ejogo It’s great. I can’t say too much about that, but I feel much more inexperienced than all of them, to get to sit there and be a part of the scenes with them, where I selfishly get to watch them work for hours. That, alone, is something that gets me out of bed, every day. … I really like the way that Nic writes human beings. It probably says more about me than anything that I like the honestly that comes with admitting the dark places in our psyches. I really enjoy the way that he writes women."

MURDER PARTY / BLUE RUIN / GREEN ROOM director Jeremy Saulnier directed the first two episodes of the season, with veteran television director David Sackheim and series creator Nic Pizzolatto taking over for the rest of the episodes. Pizzolatto wrote each episode himself, with Deadwood's David Milch earning a co-writing credit on the fourth episode.

I'm getting the feeling that True Detective is going back toward the tone and style of the first season with this new one, sort of a course correction after the poorly received second season. I loved the first season and still need to check out the second, but I'm excited for the third, especially since Saulnier was involved.