Jodie Foster says her True Detective character is a 'Karen' as she debuted as Detective Liz Danvers

Jodie Foster has branded her latest on-screen persona the ‘Alaska Karen’ as she made her debut as Detective Liz Danvers in season four of True Detective on Sunday.

The actress, 61, is joined by Kali Reis (as Evangeline Navarro) to form True Detective’s first all-female leading duo, as they solve a mystery of vanishing researchers over a 24-hour time-frame.

HBO’s description says that the pair ‘will have to confront the darkness themselves, and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.’

According to People, she told the Los Angeles premiere last week: ‘Liz Danvers is awful. She is [an] “Alaska Karen”. No two ways about it.

‘She’s an awful, awful character. But you see why.’

Jodie Foster has called her latest on-screen persona – Detective Liz Danvers (pictured) – the ‘Alaska Karen’ as she made her debut

The 61-year-old actress said that the character is ‘awful’ as she spoke at the show’s premiere in Los Angeles on January 6

True Detective: Night Country follows Detective Danvers and her sidekick Evangeline Navarro (played by Kali Reis, left) as they attempt to solve the disappearance of eight researchers at the Tsalal Arctic Research Station in Ennis, Alaska

The new, six-part season of the Emmy-winning show follows Detective Danvers as she attempts to figure out what happened to eight missing men who worked at the Tsalal Arctic Research Station in Ennis, Alaska.

Teasing her favorite part of the new season, which she also executively produced, the Taxi Driver star added that her favourite part of the crime drama is its finale.

Following the premiere, True Detective: Night Country received mixed reviews, but many still praised the opening.

And Jodie reckons they get better as they get further on, with a ‘great trajectory’.

Detective Danvers is not her first big role as a member of the force, having portrayed FBI student Clarice Starling in her Oscar-winning performance in The Silence Of The Lambs.

Foster admitted that the two are very much not alike.

While in Danvers we see someone who has stayed the course in her profession, Jodie suggested: ‘I think Clarice probably wouldn’t have ended up continuing to be an FBI officer.

‘I just feel like someday she would’ve quit and maybe worked in a soup kitchen or something.’

Episode two of True Detective’s fourth season will air on January 21, with the remaining four continuing to be released every Sunday.