'True Detective' Season 2 Casting Rumors: Christian Bale Offered Lead Role But 'Dark Knight' Star Passes on HBO's Nic Pizzolatto Crime Drama

Earlier this week we learned that the highly anticipated second season of HBO's crime drama True Detective would feature three main leads, but creator Nic Pizzolatto explained casting hadn't started yet. That disproved some casting rumors involving Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt. We can now add another name to the disproved casting list: Christian Bale.

This could be the quickest rumor denial in True Detective speculation history, considering the Bale's name came up just a day before his representatives denied the casting news. To be fair, the rumor simply stated that the American Hustle star was offered the role and that he most likely took it. His representatives stated otherwise on him taking the gig, though.

"I know from an inside source that Christian Bale is close to being cast as the lead," a Gawker commenter revealed this week. The offer is out there it's just a question of working through the details.

Further investigation into this claim revealed that Bale's name has actually been attached to casting rumors since March. You can read more over at Gawker, which also points out other rumored stars like Josh Brolin, Joaquin Phoenix, and Taylor Kitsch.

But before we get too far off topic, Bale's publicist, Jennifer Allen, explained to Gawker over a phone call that the casting news was not true.

"I know that it's not true," she said, adding, "the end result is he's not doing it."

For now we should consider Bale off of the casting table, but he definitely would be a great actor for the role, wouldn't you agree?