If there’s one thing “True Detective” fans love, it’s a mystery. And they have plenty of ambiguity to sort through in a denial from Jessica Chastain‘s publicist about whether she’ll take part in “True Detective” Season 2.
An unsourced report from The Nerdist that Chastain had been offered the part made immediate waves Wednesday because of rampant speculation about who might replace Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in the second season of the HBO drama. HBO referred questions to Chastain’s rep.
Also read: ‘True Detective’ Season 2: What We Know So Far
“I can tell you she’s not doing this project officially,” Chastain’s publicist, Nicole Perna, told TheWrap in an email.
That seemed simple enough: She was officially denying Chastain would be involved.
Or … was she? Could she be saying Chastain’s involvement wasn’t official, as of now? Was she leaving the door open?
Also read: 10 ‘True Detective’ Acting Teams We Want to See Next (Photos)
Also, who is the Yellow King?
Perna didn’t respond to our follow-up questions, and didn’t answer our fairly straightforward initial one: “Can you confirm or deny the Nerdist report that Jessica Chastain has been offered the lead in ‘True Detective?’”
Also read: Inside Jessica Chastain and Ned Benson’s Battle to Make ‘Eleanor Rigby’
And so the speculation continues: Almost every A-lister is said to be in contention, and new names pop up daily, though HBO says no one has been cast. Many have speculated that Season 2 will feature at least one female lead because of a hint dropped by show creator Nic Pizzolatto.
“One of the detriments of only having two POV characters, both men (a structural necessity),” he tweeted in response to a question in February. “Next season…”
But he later deleted the tweet, saying he didn’t want his storytelling to be dictated by criticism, including arguments that the first season was too centered on men.