Rachel McAdams in talks for True Detective

Actress Rachel McAdams. Photo / Getty Images

US actress Rachel McAdams is in talks to join Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn in the second season of hit crime drama True Detective.

According to industry bible Variety, McAdams has been offered the female lead role in the series.

Jessica Biel and Malin Ackerman were both reportedly considered, but McAdams has emerged as the frontrunner.

McAdams is best known for her roles in The Notebook and Mean Girls.

Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch, who played Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is also expected to sign on for the project.

The first series of True Detective, co-starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson on the hunt of a serial killer in Louisiana, was a critical and popular hit, winning five Primetime Emmy awards earlier this year.

The new season will tell the story of "three police officers and a career criminal (who) must navigate a web of conspiracy in the aftermath of a murder," HBO said in a statement on Tuesday.

Farrell will play Ray Velcoro, a compromised detective whose allegiances are torn between his masters in a corrupt police department and the mobster who owns him.

Vaughn meanwhile will play Frank Semyon, a career criminal in danger of losing his empire when his move into legitimate enterprise is upended by the murder of a business partner.

- WENN