Colin Farrell will star in season two of HBO’s noir detective thriller True Detective, he confirmed at the weekend. In an interview with Ireland’s Sunday World, the star of In Bruges and Phone Booth said: “I’m doing the second series. I’m so excited.”

The revelation comes after months of speculation as to who will lead the show, with huge name Oscar-night regulars such as Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Christian Bale rumoured to be in the running for parts. All three denied they would be involved.

Back in July, TheWrap reported that Farrell was “in talks” for a key role in the series. In the same story, they also suggested that Friday Night Lights and The Normal Heart star Taylor Kitsch was likely to co-star.

In March, series creator Nic Pizzolatto said that the new season would be about “hard women, bad men and the secret occult history of the United States transportation system”. He suggested that there would be four leads, as opposed to season one’s key pairing of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.

Farrell did not expand on what might happen in season two, but he confirmed the west coast setting. “I know it will be eight episodes and take around four or five months to shoot. I know very little about it, but we’re shooting in the environs of Los Angeles which is great. It means I get to stay at home and see the kids.”