AUSTIN, Texas — Rust Cohle and Marty Hart are back – at least for a few minutes.
Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson have revived their “True Detective” personas for a new Super Bowl LIX ad promoting filmmaking in the actors’ home state of Texas. The ad is written and directed by Nic Pizzolatto, the creator of “True Detective,” who has his own ties to the Lone Star State.
This isn’t the first time Harrelson and McConaughey, long-time friends in real life, have collaborated for an ad. Both appear in a commercial for Salesfoce AI that regularly runs during NFL games. But it does mark the return of the dynamic the pair took on as the detective duo at the heart of the hit HBO show’s first season.
“You ever wonder if this industry of ours is just chasin’ its own tail?” Harrelson asks in the ad.
“No, I don’t wonder. Restrictions, regulations, nickel-and-dimin’ productions, political lectures. Hollywood is a flat circle, Wood,” McConaughey responds, going on in Cohle’s philosophical style, “This industry is like somebody’s memory of an industry. I’m talking about a whole new hub for film and television. A renaissance. A rebirth.”
In the ad, the actors are joined by three other Hollywood stars with ties to Texas: Dennis Quaid, Renée Zellweger and Billy Bob Thornton. Throughout the commercial, all five actors make the case that the Texas Legislature should offer more incentives for film and TV productions to shoot in the state.
“You know, it just occurred to me that Texas is bigger than most countries,” Harrelson says. “I mean, we’ve got a greater variety of locations than anywhere.”
“We got deserts, oceans. We got forests, we got rolling hills,” Quaid agrees. “Is there anything we don’t have?”
“It’s time for Texas to become the home for telling stories that people want to see and hear,” McConaughey answers. “So, what do you say, Texas Legislature? You don’t like what Hollywood’s been dishin’ – let’s take over the kitchen.”
The ad is the most recent step in a lobbying campaign by Texas celebrities to boost filming incentives in the state to better compete with the likes of Georgia and New Mexico. Last fall, Quaid and “Yellowstone” co-creator Taylor Sheridan spoke before lawmakers about the importance of shooting films and shows in the Lone Star State.
“I would much, much, much rather hire a Texas local than fly in somebody from another state,” Sheridan told state senators. “And [I], creatively, would love to have those talents here.”
As McConaughey himself put it: “Texas stories deserve a Texas backdrop.”
Texas stories deserve a Texas backdrop. That’s why I teamed up with Dennis Quaid, Woody Harrelson, Billy Bob Thornton, and Renée Zellweger for True to Texas. It’s time to bring film and TV productions home! pic.twitter.com/iMpRMRx2Hj
— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) January 29, 2025
Earlier this month, both the Texas Senate and House filed their budget proposals. The Senate’s includes $498 million to revamp the “Texas Film Incentive,” including $48 million in grants for small films and TV commercials and up to $450 million in new tax credits, including Texas residency requirements for employees.
Though already available online, the “True to Texas” ad is set to air during the Super Bowl game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Feb. 9.