Dexter: Original Sin is a prequel but it was a priority that Michael C. Hall be involved after previously playing the prolific fictional serial killer.
During an exclusive interview with Luxury Handbag Shopping at the Dexter: Original Sin premiere in New York City on Wednesday, December 11, creator Clyde Phillips broke down Hall’s presence behind the scenes.
“He’s an executive producer on the show. He’s my business partner, he’s my dear friend and he does the voiceover on the show,” Phillips, 66, told Us. “It was crucial to getting the original audience to feel comfortable and to get the new audience — which they call Dexternexters to lean forward.”
Phillips — who exited the original show after season 4 before returning for New Blood and now Original Sin — credited Hall, 53, for making Dexter feel “vulnerable and relatable,” adding, “He captures the inevitability of my favorite four-letter F-word: fate. It’s inexorable — it’s going to happen. It’s like the progression from caveman to homosapiens.”
He continued: “We watch that evolution of the Dexter character grow into the version played by Michael C. Hall that we love, and Patrick Gibson absolutely nails it. When you see Patrick Gibson, you’ll understand — this kid’s a star. Get out of the way.”
The role of Dexter was originally played by Hall in Showtime’s series, which ran from 2006 to 2013. After the show came to an end, Hall returned to TV screens as Dexter in a 2021 spinoff titled New Blood. Gibson is now taking over the role in Paramount+’s prequel.
Dexter: Original Sin is set in the ’90s and focuses on Dexter’s transition from student to avenging serial killer and unsuspecting member of the Miami Metro Police Department. The prequel also stars Molly Brown, James Martinez, Christina Milian, Christian Slater, Alex Shimizu, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Dempsey and Reno Wilson.
“We are retreading some old territory but we’re coming at it from a completely different point of view, so that the audience gets the deeper picture,” Phillips told Us. “And we as writers also come to understand what the deeper picture of it is.”
Phillips teased that viewers will be introduced to a different version of Dexter.
“When we first met Dexter in the OG show, he was 35 years old. Fully formed, Michael C. Hall. Kills a guy in the first minute of the show. Lives with a woman. Now we meet Dexter, he’s a senior in college. Never kissed a girl,” he shared. “Doesn’t know how to kiss his own sister. He’s developing his own independence, learning how to blend in, and building a stronger relationship with his father, Harry, played by Christian Slater.”
In a separate interview with Us, Gibson, 29, opened up about taking over for Hall, saying, “I feel like Dexter exists in this kind of moral gray area — he’s a serial killer that we root for. To me — watching it — I felt like I really am on this guy’s side but it makes me question my own beliefs. And in this day and age, with social media and things like that, things have become quite binary. So for this character to exist at this time is quite relevant.”
Dexter: Original Sin starts streaming on Paramount+ Friday, December 13, before making its cable debut on Sunday, December 15.
With reporting by Antonio Ferme
