Jodie Foster wins her first-ever Emmy for 'True Detective: Night Country'

The next marker in the Jodie Foster renaissance has been added: She just won her first ever Emmy for her role in “True Detective: Night Country.”

During the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Foster took the stage at Peacock Theater to accept the statuette for lead actress in a limited series for her performance as Liz Danvers, the acid-tongued police chief who is tasked with investigating the disappearance of eight men in the fictional town of Ennis, Alaska.

Her acclaimed performance in the HBO anthology series arrived more than three decades after her other memorable turn as a law enforcement official: FBI agent Clarice Starling in “The Silence of the Lambs,” the 1991 film that earned her a second Oscar for lead actress (her first was for 1988’s “The Accused”).

“This is an incredibly emotional moment for me,” Foster said in accepting her award, “because ‘True Detective: North Country’ was just a magical experience.” She thanked her showrunner Issa López, “who really dreamed up this crazy Liz Danvers for me.” She went on to thank her crew and her co-star Kali Reis, “and mostly the indigenous people, the Inupiaq and Inuit people of Northern Alaska, who told us their stories, and they allowed us to listen. And that was just a blessing. It was love, love, love. And when you feel that, something amazing happens. It’s deep and wonderful, and it’s older than this place in this time. And that’s just the message, which is love and work equals art.”

Foster’s return to the awards scene kicked off earlier this year when she earned a supporting actress Oscar nomination for Netflix’s “Nyad.” She played Bonnie Stoll in the film, the best friend and coach to the long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad (Annette Bening).

“True Detective: Night Country” earned a total of 19 Emmy nominations — a culmination of acclaim for the show’s formidable fourth season, which became the most-watched iteration of the franchise after it debuted in January.