“True Detective” was HBO’s most successful debut since “Boardwalk Empire” in 2010, and when it returns for its second episode on Sunday night (January 19), viewers will not only get more of the pitch-black murder mystery and great performances from Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, but they will also see Alexandra Daddario take on her most mature role to date.

According to Hollywood Gossip, the charming actress – previously known largely for her recurrent part in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians film trilogy – has unexpectedly leapt to more adult acting ranks as a result of her naked moment in the gritty HBO thriller.

When asked about the incident, she told MTV that she just gripped her buttcheeks and did it.

Credit: HBO

“I think one thing about this role for me was that it was a huge challenge for me, and I saw it as a good challenge. I saw it as an interesting challenge,” Daddario said. “I really wanted to be part of the show, and I understood why the nudity and all of that was required of the character…. The character is really different from anything that I’ve done before. The nudity was just part of that.”

On the day of the shoot, Daddario found solace in her co-star, whose expertise helped her through an unsettling situation.

Daddario went on, “Woody has done so many different things. He made the whole situation very comfortable. It wasn’t anything awkward in that sense. I tried not to think about it too much before shooting the more intimate scenes and just sort of did it. [Harrelson] has been there done that. He’s Woody Harrelson. If there’s anybody that I was going to be comfortable with, it’s somebody like him.”

“Seeing Things” has just recently begun to relate the story of Lisa Tragnetti (her character) in the context of Hart’s (Harrelson’s) life, and Daddario believes that the connection may cause some problems.

“I think she’s definitely got some issue. Nobody is all good or bad,” Daddario said of her character. “If anything, she is probably a little bored and emotionally volatile and naïve. She has probably done things like this before, maybe not exactly how it all turned out. That’s her role in Hart’s story. She causes problems for him.”

True Detective also stars Matthew McConaughey, Michael Potts, Tory Kittles, Michelle Monaghan, and Madison Wolfe in addition to Alexandra Daddario and Woody Harrelson. True Detective airs on HBO on Sunday evenings, with the next episode airing on February 9 for those who haven’t watched it yet.

True Detective has already caused at least one media source to declare that “HBO Once Again Has the Best New Show on TV.”