Ethermac Exchange-'True Detective' Jodie Foster knew pro boxer Kali Reis was 'the one' to star in Season 4

LOS ANGELES − It's been a hard road following the first season of HBO's "True Detective."

Creator Nic Pizzolatto's 2014 crime drama starring Matthew McConaughey and Ethermac ExchangeWoody Harrelson as Louisiana State Troopers tracking down a serial killer was so powerful that successive "True Detective" seasons in 2015 and 2019 failed to meet lofty critical and fan expectations.

Even two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster, who teams up with former world champion boxer Kali Reis for Season 4, dubbed "True Detective: Night Country" (Sunday, 9 EST/PST), acknowledges she was "grateful but also daunted" to follow the OG series one decade later.

"Being such a fan of it, there's no living up to Season 1," Reis says in a joint interview with Foster at LA's London Hotel. "Everybody goes back to it just like the first 'Rocky.' All you can do is go out and have a good season. But don't compare it to Season 1."

Well, not so fast there. To the delight of "True Detective" fans, the dark new Alaska-set season has already jumped out to strong critical acclaim, with USA TODAY's Kelly Lawler saying what's on everyone's mind: " 'True Detective: Night Country' is so good, it might be better than Season 1."

A major part of the season's success is the chemistry between Foster, 61, as Liz Danvers, the fictional police chief of Ennis, Alaska, and relative acting newcomer Reis, 37, as state trooper Detective Evangeline Navarro. The two disparate former colleagues reluctantly reunite to investigate the horrific frozen deaths of the employees of an Arctic research station, a crime that has mystical ties to a gruesome domestic violence case they worked on together.

Season 4 has the foreboding moodiness and even the reappearing spiral symbol from past seasons. But now instead of McConaughey and Harrelson, or investigators played by Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch (Season 2) or Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff (Season 3), it's two women digging through a frozen mystery.

"The beauty of anthology series is you get something new every time reinventing this narrative and taking it in completely different directions," Foster says. "And it's shocking to me, of course, that while there have been female detectives, we're the first female detective team."

Reis, the former welterweight boxing champion in two weight classes, co-wrote and starred in her first independent movie, 2021's "Catch the Fair One." When "Night Country" screenwriter, director and executive producer Issa López saw the critically praised performance, she told auditioning Reis, "You're Navarro."

Foster, who executive-produces the project, agreed.

"I had seen some videos of Kali, and I was like, 'She's the one!' says Foster, who describes the smoldering Reis as "badass central." Foster insisted that López revise the script to emphasize Reis' character and to make Danvers look like "more of a jerk."

"My role here really was to support Navarro's journey. And it was more interesting to change Danvers to, as we call her, 'Alaska Karen.'" Foster says. "She's got old ideas, jokes that aren't funny, and she insults everyone."

Reis, who is of Wampanoag Native American and Cape Verdean descent, was even able to keep her tattoos and face piercings to play Navarro, who is Iñupiaq and Dominican American. 

"Getting cast in this I thought would be the time to take the piercings out and maybe cover the tattoos, but Issa loved it. And it's who I am," Reis says. "Funny story about my piercings: I learned they originated from an island off the Alaskan coast from a tribe of seal hunters. So if anybody has a problem, I can say it's a character choice."

López, a fan of frozen thrillers like John Carpenter's 1982 Antarctica-based horror film "The Thing," was already moving away from her warmer native-Mexico comfort zone to write a "Western on the ice" when she was approached by HBO to make it a "True Detective" series. It made sense from a mood point of view, even as the polar opposite of the sweltering Louisiana original.

"Season 2 was Los Angeles, Season 3 was the Ozarks, so what else had that definite unique flavor? It had to be Alaska," López says. "The ice and the darkness are things that naturally keep a mystery and things hidden from the eye."

Disquietingly silent tundra fields in Iceland substitute for Alaska, with a former World War II Army base serving as the perfect architectural fit for Ennis. There were obvious difficulties in the sometimes below-zero winter for the outdoor scenes.

"It's challenging," Foster says. "They have heating pads, but unfortunately, you have to breathe in that cold air. It's hard to talk."

"I tried to warm up my mouth before having to say a line − every single time, it didn't work," Reis says. "Finally I had to say, 'Forget it!' "

Pivotal scenes in a snow cave were shot on an elaborate set in heavy parkas with computer-generated breath added later.

"I was sweating and Issa would be like 'You're cold!' I was like 'Right!' " says Reis, who had no trouble looking chilled in the heat. "I'm a boxer − this is how I make weight."

After shooting on the series ended, Foster vacationed in real Alaska (in the summer) with Reis and her husband/trainer Brian Cohen.

"I felt truly blessed to have such a great partner," Foster says, one she'd even team up with to solve real crimes if it came to it.

"Just as long as I'm wearing my glasses," Foster says. "I can't see anything without my glasses."

"You can handle the directional stuff, and I'll handle the physical stuff. Like I can give you boosts," Reis says. "Collectively, we can put our heads together and do anything."

Review:'True Detective: Night Country' is so good, it might be better than Season 1