Watch Mahershala Ali Age into an Old Man in the First 'True Detective' Season 3 Trailer

Mahershala Ali won an Oscar in 2017 for his role in Moonlight

Mahershala Ali is giving TV fans a glimpse at his future — and taking them on a journey into the past — in the first look at True Detective‘s third season.

Ali, 44, stars in the highly anticipated new season of the anthology series, which will arrive on HBO in January.

In the trailer, Ali — who portrays an Arkansas detective named Wayne Hays — morphs into a gray-haired old man right before viewers’ eyes.

“Before you ever knew me, I wasn’t scared much,” Ali narrates as a younger version of his character investigates a case. “That wasn’t a fear for me. Things I’ve seen, things I know, wouldn’t do anything but cause harm. My whole brain’s a bunch of missing pieces.”

HBO

Ali, who won the Oscar in 2017 for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Moonlight, plays Hays at three different ages in the series, according to Variety.

“My job — there’s no certainty,” Ali continues in the trailer’s voiceover. “This peace is more haunting than anything. I want to know the whole story.”

HBO

During the Television Critics Association’s press tour over a year ago, HBO president of programming Casey Bloys discussed Ali’s season of the show.

“I have read five scripts for a third season,” Bloys said at the time. “I’m very, very impressed and excited about what I’ve read. I don’t want to give away the storyline, but I really think they’re terrific.”