Patrick Wymore/Paramount+ with ShowtimeTake a nostalgic trip down neon pleather lane along with your favorite psychopath/serial killer: In the new prequel series, Dexter: Original Sin (Sundays beginning Dec. 15 at 10pm ET/PT on Showtime), Patrick Gibson will play the younger version of Dexter Morgan as he comes of age in 1990s Miami and becomes the serial killing vigilante we have all come to know and love.
And speaking of psychopaths, his father, Harry, will be portrayed by Christian Slater, who once played one himself, in the 1988 film Heathers.
“[Playing JD] was good prep to play Harry, Dexter’s dad,” Slater told us of his iconic role from decades past becoming relevant again. “Just having that kind of background helped to play this character; I feel like JD would be that kind of father. I mean, he had a very weird father of his own in the movie, which was a very interesting dynamic. And, also, Michael Lehmann, who directed Heathers, is directing this show. It’s been wonderful working together again. And to work also with Patrick Dempsey, who’s another guy I haven’t seen in about 30 years.”
The cast is pretty epic. And quite fitting for a show set in the 1990s. In addition to Slater and Dempsey (who plays a captain of the Miami Metro Homicide Department), another major 1990s icon is set to play Dexter’s first boss, Tanya Martin, the chief of forensics: Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sarah Michelle Gellar.
“Sarah Michelle Geller is probably the sweetest person on the planet Earth,” said Slater. “I mean, she is so great, she is so nice, and all she likes to do is exchange baby pictures. And Patrick Gibson is wonderful as Dexter. I mean, it’s not an imitation, it’s his own thing, but it’s a wonderful representation of the character. They’re not easy shoes to fill. But there have been moments where I have looked up at Gibson and thought, ‘Oh my God.’ At times, it’s like he’s possessed with the spirit of Dexter.”
Being set in the 1990s comes with its own challenges — and some humor, too. “The size of the computers that we have at our desks is hilarious, and the old phones,” said Slater. “Having to explain those things to the kids here has been quite interesting.”
“It’s so much fun for everyone,” the show’s creator and showrunner, Clyde Phillips, shared. “My production designer, Eric Weiler, found the original plans for the police station. We built an exact replica, and it looks amazing. Every prop is period correct. Big computers, wardrobe, wall phones, people smoking indoors, fax machines, cars. Plus, some breadcrumbs of various brands that were popular in those decades … oh, and the music too. Also, the show is filled with Easter eggs. It’s so much fun.”
Phillips, who has been involved in every Dexter show thus far, probably knows him better than anyone at this point. Originally, he was drawn in by the novel it’s based on, Jeff Lindsay’s Darkly Dreaming Dexter, but the show took on a life of its own.
“We have a great time with our writers in the writing room, just coming up with really ironic things for Dexter,” Phillips said. “It’s not a dark show. Although it certainly has its darkness. Why is an audience inviting a serial killer into their homes every Sunday night for 10 years? I think it’s a couple of reasons. A, B and C: It’s Michael C. Hall, who is so appealing, such a great actor. But oddly enough, it’s a family story, and we try to make it as humorous as possible. I think it’s another reason why the audience finds it appealing.”
With a prequel, especially for a show that already featured enough flashbacks to get a full picture of Dexter’s childhood, audiences might be wondering if there will be enough untrodden ground to tread, but Phillips assured us there will be plenty of new storylines.
“We actually started with his birth, and then how Harry ends up having an affair with Dexter’s mother, Laura Moser, who’s a confidential informant, and gets killed in the shipping container,” Phillips added. “Harry adopts Dexter as a 3-year-old, and it’s the development of that. Everything is new. I don’t think we use any footage from the original series.”
And the new sequel series, Dexter: Resurrection? You won’t have to wait too long for that either. “We found a way to resurrect Dexter. We start shooting in New York in January. And that will air in the summer of 2025. It’s a father-son story. I can’t tell you any more [than that]. But it all makes sense and it’s medically correct.”
Dexter: Original Sin will stream on Paramount+ starting Friday, Dec. 13.
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