Cary Joji Fukunaga became a heartthrob Monday night when he won an Emmy for his work directing HBO’s True Detective.

Cary Fukunaga Wins Emmy, Earns Twitter Buzz

Fukunaga, 37, directed all eight episodes of HBO’s hit drama starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, but he easily eclipsed the two actors, receiving immediate love from viewers on Twitter for his good looks and daring French braids.

Though the director helmed all eight episodes of True Detective’s first season, Fukunaga won the Emmy for his work directing the show’s fourth episode, “Who Goes There,” which features an incredible six-minute, one take, tracking shot. Unfortunately, Fukunaga will not be returning to direct True Detective’s second season, but he will be acting as an executive producer.

Who Is True Detective Director Cary Fukunaga?

Fukunaga, half-Swedish, half-Japanese from Oakland, Calif., didn’t always dream of working in film and television. He wanted to be a pro snowboarder until he was about 23-years-old, when, after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Fukunaga decided to study film at NYU’s graduate program.

“At 22, I had a good year and went to live in Japan, had a couple of magazine articles and stuff. But by the time I turned 23, I came back and looked at my friends who were 26, 27, and working as lift operators, and realized I didn’t want to be that. I’d always been interested in filmmaking so I figured I’d try it out,” Fukunaga said in an interview with The Daily Beast.

After gaining some acclaim for various short films and his feature debut Sin Nombre, Fukunaga directed the 2011 adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska before veering into television with True Detective. During that time, he was also romantically linked to Michelle Williams.

Fukunaga is currently working on his next feature, Beasts of No Nation, a drama about a child soldier starring Idris Elba.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.