Alexandra Daddario had already found a great deal of success in Hollywood before True Detective kicked off its run on HBO back in 2014. She had a starring role in the Percy Jackson movies, led Texas Chainsaw 3D and also had multi-episode runs on shows like White Collar and Parenthood. But even then, Daddario had yet to tap into the full range of her craft. She was determined to show the industry that she had even more to offer, and True Detective afforded her that opportunity.
Daddario plays Lisa Tragnetti in Season 1 of the HBO show, a court reporter who becomes involved with Woody Harrelson’s Martin Hart. Again, Daddario already had a whole bunch of projects coming her way at that point, but her run on True Detective kicked the door wide open to even more opportunities, significantly upping her profile in the industry in the process.
While on Collider Ladies Night celebrating the debut of The White Lotus on HBO, Daddario took a moment to look back on some of her greatest successes thus far, and pinpointed True Detective as a big one:
“The biggest successes I’ve had in my career, I did not expect or they were completely out of the blue. And the biggest jobs I’ve booked, I had no concept that I was gonna book them. So I’ve tried to maintain my sanity or whatever my viewpoint on life is, I try not to put too many expectations on things. I do have more knowledge and understanding of tracking and how things are gonna work, but True Detective, for example, which I’m sure we’ll get to, it’s like, I didn’t see what was gonna happen from that coming at all. I don’t even think I was invited to that premiere. I didn’t go to the premiere of that show and then it ended up being a huge thing for my career. So you just never know what’s gonna happen, so I just try to do the best I can in whatever I choose to do and that’s it.”
Image via HBODaddario has called choosing to do True Detective a “tactical decision” in the past and elaborated a bit on the strategy she was implementing by making that choice:
“The tactical decision was, I went in for the audition and they seemed vaguely interested, and it was for a different role and I was like, ‘Well, they’re vaguely interested and I love these actors and I love Cary Fukunaga and I want to be in this show, so let me force them to hire me.’ [Laughs] I thought I need something on my resume that shows that I can do something different, or something. I just thought it would look good on my resume. That was where I sort of was at at that point. And that would look to Hollywood like, ‘Oh, she’s doing something different!’”So ultimately, did that tactical decision pay off? Did True Detective prove to be the resume game-changing Daddario hoped for? Here’s what she said:
“I didn’t expect to have what I had happen happen, which was – it’s a long time ago now – getting naked on a show where I didn’t have a huge role, I didn’t know what to expect. And then of course that episode aired and my manager called, and I’ll never forget it, I was sitting on my boyfriend’s couch and she calls me in the morning after the episode aired and she was like, ‘The phone’s been ringing off the hook all morning. The phone won’t stop ringing!’ And all of a sudden, everyone in town wanted to meet with me and then I booked San Andreas. So no, I would have never expected that from that role. It was tactical, but not that tactical.”
Image via HBOThere was no wrapping up the True Detective portion of our conversation without following up on one particular point Daddario mentioned — that premiere. Given the attention that role garnered and the fact that Daddario’s star is pretty powerful, it’s a bit surprising to hear she wasn’t on the True Detective premiere invite list to me. But did she perceive it that way herself?
“I mean, everyone has an ego, but I’m like, ‘If they want me, they’ll call me,’ you know? And if not, I need to build a rich enough life apart from that to be happy. I didn’t expect to be invited. It was only afterwards in retrospect when I was at the Emmys that I was like, ‘Wow, I’m a big enough part of this show to be invited to the Emmys on behalf of the show even though I’m not nominated.’ But it was just something that I don’t think anybody expected including myself. I really didn’t expect people to have that reaction to that character the way that they did.”
News
Video of Justin Bieber From P. Diddy’s Party is Uncomfortable to Watch for Fans After Recent Revelation
In the wake of P. Diddy’s arrest following several allegations of racketeering and s*x trafficking, an old video of the rapper together with singer Justin Bieber resurfaced online and garnered concern from fans. The disturbing clip was taken at a…
Kate Winslet reveals her most ‘selfish’ moment on ‘Titanic’ set
Kate Winslet recreates Titanic’s iconic scene, showing Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Jack could have survived with more effort. During her regal appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Kate suggested that her character may not have been entirely correct with her choice of words,…
Maggie Smith’s Hilarious Jab At Judi Dench Is Going Viral As Fans Mourn Her Death
Maggie Smith died on Friday at the age of 89. David M. Benett/Dave Benett / Getty Images The famed British actor had a long and storied career. She initially found success as a theater actor before winning two Academy Awards in the…
The Real Story Behind the ‘Lee’ Movie and Lee Miller, the Legendary Surrealist Photographer and World War II Journalist Who Inspired It
In a new biopic starring Kate Winslet, Miller’s many lives—as an artist, model, muse, cook and war correspondent—need little embellishment Kate Winslet as Lee Miller in Lee, a new film directed by Ellen Kuras Courtesy of Roadside Attractions When Antony Penrose was a young…
Justin Bieber Has Been Trying to Tell His Story Even Before the Alleged Diddy Scandal Was Exposed
Justin Bieber has been in the industry ever since he was a kid which means that he grew up witnessing both the good and bad of Hollywood. In his teenage days, he seemed to be on good terms with Sean…
Spot the difference: The times Meghan Markle has echoed Princess Diana in her fashion choices
Meghan Markle often pays tribute to Princess Diana through her fashion choices. She recently wore an entire outfit that seemed to come straight from her late mother-in-law’s wardrobe. Dining at an upscale Italian restaurant in Santa Barbara, Meghan wore a white shirt by…
End of content
No more pages to load