Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson Reprise ‘True Detective’ Roles, Push for Texas-Based Productions

Texas-born actors Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson reprised their True Detective roles in a video on Wednesday as they urged the state legislature to bring more Hollywood productions to the Lone Star state.

The four minute clip, True to Texas, follows McConaughey and Harrelson down a desolate two-way road, and it feels reminiscent of their True Detective personas Detectives Rust Cohle and Marty Hart from the franchise’s first season. With Dennis Quaid handcuffed in the backseat, the trio make proposals to create Hollywood films, TV shows, music videos, and commercials on Texas soil. Calling Hollywood a tuneless, “flat circle of wood,” McConaughey calls for a film and TV production shift.

“This industry is like somebody’s memory of an industry, and the memory’s fading,” McConaughey says. “I’m talking about a whole new hub for film and television. A renaissance. A rebirth.”

The Texas senate announced last week that it would direct $498 million to revamp the Texas Film Incentive, with the aim of making the state the “movie capital of the world.” Small films and TV commercials will received $48 million in grants, and the state will receive $450 million in new tax credits, which will include a Texas residency requirement for workers. Texas gets $4 back for every $1 invested as the state creates new jobs, the state senate said.

Other Hollywood performers and directors have pushed for Texas-bound productions. During a legislative hearing last year — in which Quaid shared a testimonial — Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan said that his “love Story to Texas” Hell or High Water should’ve been filmed in the state.

The new promo video also recruits Billy Bob Thornton and and Renée Zellweger, who support the action.

“I’ve been hotel hopping in all these other states for way too long,” Zellweger adds. “And I get it, I mean making a production is hard and if all these other states are going to offer an incentive, then that’s where we’re going to keep going. I just wish we could bring some of these production home to Texas.”