Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub speaks with
Dexter: Original Sin
‘s Christian Slater, Patrick Gibson, and Molly Brown.

Dexter: Original Sin
features familiar characters in a prequel setting, with fresh faces like Patrick Gibson portraying young Dexter, in addition to new characters played by Patrick Dempsey and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
In this interview, the cast discusses exploring established characters, what fans of the original series can expect, and the villains of Season 1.

“In the beginning, there was blood.” It’s time to return to the world of Dexter Morgan, first brought to screen by Michael C. Hall, who lends his voice, yet again, to the killer’s inner monologue in the Paramount+ prequel series Dexter: Original Sin. In the series that started it all, Dexter was bound to his adoptive father, Harry Morgan, (played by Christian Slater in Original Sin), by his dependency on Harry’s “code,” a set of rules that would allow Dexter to channel his deadly urges into what would become a career with the Miami Police Department. Now, fans will see The OA’s Patrick Gibson as young Dexter put those rules to the test for the first time.

In Original Sin, we’re introduced to all-new faces portraying familiar characters from the first series, including Dexter’s sister, Debra Morgan, now played by Molly Brown (Evil), Angel Batista, played by James Martinez (Love, Victor), Maria LaGuerta, played by Christina Milian (Meet Me Next Christmas), and Vince Masuka, played by Alex Shimizu (The Blacklist). In addition to the characters we first met in 2006, Original Sin brings Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy) onboard as Captain Aaron Spencer and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Dexter’s boss, Tanya Martin.

While at CCXP in Brazil, Collider’s Steve Weintraub caught up with the show’s core trio, Slater, Gibson, and Brown, for more of what fans of the original series can expect. During their conversation, they discuss what it’s like to step into the shoes of established characters in a beloved world, the reception at the con, the infamous code, and how the prequel show handles the big bads compared to Dexter (2006). For OG fans, anyone wondering if the show brings fresh material, in Brown’s own words, “As someone who was a fan, there are questions that I didn’t even realize I had that we answer.”

These Characters Can’t Be Killed Off (Sort Of)
“I will never die.”

COLLIDER: As actors, you never really know where a gig is going to go. What is it like signing on to something like this, where you know, as long as the show is on the air, you have a job? You can’t be killed off.

MOLLY BROWN: Well, one of us can. Sorry! [Laughs]

CHRISTIAN SLATER: That’s true. That is true.

But he’ll still be there, just not in the live world.

SLATER: Right. In a similar fashion as I have done before. Look, I’m used to that. I can do it.

BROWN: It’s really nice knowing that I won’t die. I will never die.

Image via Paraount+

PATRICK GIBSON: Yeah, that’s good. Because it’s always a possibility. We will live on for at least another six seasons.

SLATER: That’s right. Some keep coming back. No one ever really dies in TV.

GIBSON: Sort of. Sometimes they do.

SLATER: Only Chef from South Park. That’s the only death I saw that was pretty much guaranteed.

BROWN: That was permanent. They said, “We’re done.”

SLATER: He’s not coming back.

Related Get Into the Head of Patrick Gibson In ‘Dexter: Original Sin’ Sneak Peek The prequel series arrives on Paramount+ with Showtime on December 13.

I am curious for the two of you, this is your first time getting leading roles on a show. What the hell is that like the night before the first day of filming when you know, “Oh my god, I’m finally getting this gig?” And it’s Dexter .

BROWN: Insane. Not even just the day before. I found out I got it when I was in Paris, and it was a completely surreal experience at the Eras Tour. [Laughs] I mean, it was absolutely insane. It’s a show that I’ve loved for so long, and it’s just nuts. It was nuts when we went out in San Diego to see a packed room — I was worried it was going to be empty. I was like, “Oh my god, they put us in such a big room. What if there are four people there, and it’s other people from our cast?” I was so scared no one was going to care. It was such an amazing experience to watch people so excited for us without seeing a single second of footage.

GIBSON: We hadn’t even finished filming. We were still shooting.

BROWN: We barely filmed a beat.

SLATER: But there was already so much excitement and enthusiasm. That’s Michael C. Hall and Clyde Phillips. That’s the world they built and created, and yeah, it’s a wonderful thing to be a part of.

GIBSON: The audition process was so long and kind of grueling, and we went through so many iterations of who Dexter was at this time that it was actually really nice to then know that we’d done all that, and getting to set, it felt like we’d set a solid foundation for what we were trying to do. I think that alleviated some of the pressure. Obviously, stepping into your first lead role into something so beloved is a pretty daunting task.

BROWN: Stepping into your first lead role when you’re playing characters that have been established. It was so funny, I wasn’t stressed about it until the day I got to set. Suddenly, I was like, “Oh, Jesus Christ, that’s what we’re doing. Oh my god.”

The Main Baddie of ‘Dexter: Original Sin’ Season 1 Is a “Bad Motherf**ker”
Image via CBS

One of the things about the original series is that it’s almost like a villain of the season, where they’re building toward, “Who is this big villain?” So far, from what I’ve seen, it’s almost like a villain of the week. Is that pretty much Season 1?

GIBSON: I think we get both, right? You have the friends that Dexter makes along the way and then disposes of, and they’re kind of the stepping stones where he’s learning. It’s almost like each one of those teaches him a lesson that will then help him in taking down the ultimate big bad. So, it does have the throughline going through it. I’m not sure if you got to it in Episode 2, but you start to see…

BROWN: Hints of the big bad.

SLATER: There’s somebody out there who needs to be stopped.

GIBSON: He is a bad motherfucker.

What do you think fans will say after they’ve seen the finale?

GIBSON: “Wow!”

SLATER: “Damn!” [Laughs]

GIBSON: “No way.”

SLATER: “Oh my god, I did not see that coming. What a twist!”

GIBSON: I remember reading that in Miami and literally being like, “No fucking way.” It’s satisfying, I think.

SLATER: The whole season, I think.

Fans of the Original Series Won’t Be Disappointed
“There are questions I didn’t even realize I had that we answer.”

The thing about a show like this is, it’s going to get a second season. I’m very confident that you will be making more.

BROWN: You know what I would say? I think that there are so many little things along the way that the finale is going to be amazing, but you’re going to see how the routine that Dexter has is learned. You’re going to see so many little things that you didn’t know that you wanted to know.

SLATER: The code.

BROWN: Yeah. You’re going to see so many things.

SLATER: Things that happened to Harry in the past.

BROWN: As someone who was a fan, there are questions that I didn’t even realize I had that we answer.

GIBSON: I think they’ve done a really good job. It feels like we’ve seen so much from Dexter’s past in the flashbacks, and they’ve really done an amazing job of weaving so much story that supports and enhances the canon that already existed into the cracks that we have.

SLATER: So much has been established in the original show. To go back and still make that all tie in…

Image via Paramount+

GIBSON: It’s crazy patchwork.

BROWN: Jennifer Carpenter’s 5’9″. I have to grow six inches. It’s insane! It’s such a feat. [Laughs] I’ve already started the process.

SLATER: The stretching and the surgery.

The series premiere of Dexter: Original Sin hits Paramount+ on December 13. New episodes air every Friday.

Your changes have been saved Dexter: Original Sin Follows a young Dexter Morgan on his transition into an avenging serial killer.Network Paramount+ with Showtime

Watch on Paramount+