Rachel McAdams' True Detective character, Ani Bezzerides, is a significant departure from the archetypal female roles in crime dramas. Ani is a sharp, resilient detective with a troubled past, pushing McAdams to explore new depths as an actress.

She's in town from Toronto, shooting season two of HBO's hit gothic crime drama True Detective with Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn, which she describes as "the job of a lifetime." McAdams, 36, plays Detective Ani Bezzerides—a hard drinkin', hard gamblin', cigarette smokin' Ventura county cop (hence the hair) trying to solve a grisly murder.

McAdams will play Ani Bezzerides, a Ventura County Sheriff’s detective "whose uncompromising ethics put her at odds with others and the system she serves" (that's from the press release).

McAdams has landed the role of Ani Bezzerides, “a Ventura County Sheriff’s detective whose uncompromising ethics put her at odds with others and the system she serves,” while Kitsch is portraying Paul Woodrugh, “a war veteran and motorcycle officer for the California Highway Patrol, running from a difficult past and the sudden glare of a scandal that never happened.”