True Detective is a TV show.
Rustin Spencer `` Rust '' Cohle is a fictional character in the first season of the anthology crime drama television series True Detective on HBO . True Detective . The first season , starring Matthew McConaughey , Woody Harrelson , Michelle Monaghan , Michael Potts , and Tory Kittles , takes place in Louisiana and follows a pair of Louisiana State Police homicide detectives , and their pursuit of a serial killer over a 17-year period .